Highest rate taxpayers at record level

Figures from HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) show an estimated 364,000 people are paying the 45p rate of tax on income over £150,000, up from 311,000 in 2013-14.

The figure represents 1.2 per cent of income tax payers in the UK.

The figures also show that the top 1 per cent of taxpayers had a 12 per cent share of total income, and were liable for 27.7 per cent of all income tax.

It is estimated that 15,000 UK taxpayers have incomes above £1m, of which 4,000 have incomes above £2m, the figures show.

Meanwhile, the number of people paying at the basic (20 per cent) and higher (40 per cent) rates of tax has fallen slightly.

The latest estimates show that 25.1 million (81.8 per cent of taxpayers) were paying tax at the basic rate.

A further 4.2 million individuals (13.7 per cent of taxpayers) pay tax at the higher 40 per cent rate.

These numbers are likely to have been relatively static, owing in part to the increase in the threshold at which these rates of income tax are paid.

In 2010, the income tax personal allowance - the amount you are allowed to earn before paying any income tax - was £6,475.

This year it is £11,500, having risen considerably faster than inflation.

In contrast, the threshold of £150,000 has been frozen, meaning the numbers paying the highest rate of tax may increase even if pay rises at this top end rise no faster than the cost of living.