HMRC data shows Insurance Premium Tax (IPT) receipts totalled £6.78 billion in the first eight months of the 2025-26 financial year, covering April through November. November’s contribution was £1.258 billion.
The £6.78 billion total was up £125 million from £6.65 billion over the same period a year earlier. IPT receipts in 2024-25 ended at £8.88 billion, a record annual total.
The November update followed earlier HMRC figures showing £5.52 billion collected over the first seven months of 2025-26, up £68 million from the same point a year earlier. That left November’s £1.258 billion as the month that pushed the running total beyond £6.7 billion.
Forecasts published by the Office for Budget Responsibility alongside the Autumn Budget put IPT receipts for the current financial year at £8.97 billion. The OBR projections rise to £10.1 billion by 2030-31.
The Autumn Budget also left IPT rates unchanged, maintaining 12% for health policies and 20% for travel insurance as the Treasury looks to sustain a growing revenue line.
Cara Spinks (pictured above), head of life and health at independent insurance consultancy Broadstone, said: “November’s figures confirm another strong month for IPT, taking the year-to-date total to over £6.7 billion and keeping the UK on course for another record year.”
Spinks said the tax picture sits alongside labour market pressures linked to health. She said: “However, this comes against a backdrop of rising economic inactivity linked to long-term sickness, which has returned close to post-pandemic highs.”
Spinks said: “Poor health remains a significant drag on productivity as we move into 2026.” She also pointed to demand pressures in the public health system and the role of private cover.
Spinks said: “Health insurance products such as private medical insurance and health cash plans have been instrumental in supporting workforce participation and alleviating NHS pressures through early diagnosis and preventative care.” She added that, with waiting lists “still at record levels,” the tax “continues to act as a barrier to wider adoption for both employers and individuals.”
Spinks said: “The Autumn Budget was a missed opportunity to respond to the ‘Keep Britain Working’ review by reducing or removing IPT on health insurance products.”
She added: “Doing so would have improved access to these services and supported the Government’s stated aims of reducing NHS waiting lists, improving productivity, and driving economic growth.”
