Capital gains tax (CGT) receipts for 2025 were £13.6 billion, according to HM Revenue and Customs data.

This is a fall of 8.4% from £14.9 billion in 2024.

Wealth managers Evelyn Partners said the fall in tax take comes after both Labour and the former Conservative governments turned the screw on capital gains.

The Conservatives cut the CGT annual exemption from £12,300 in 2022–23 to just £3,000 in 2024–25.

Evelyn Partners managing director Jason Hollands said: “Taxpayers are swerving this and the previous government’s crackdown on capital gains by sitting tight and deferring disposals, suggesting the futility of over-taxing investors and business owners.

“The CGT data from not just today, but the last few years and through history, suggests that investors either bring forward decisions ahead of anticipated changes or are deterred from crystallising gains afterwards, or both.

“Investors will change their plans and behaviour accordingly to avoid paying tax where they feel it is too high. In many cases, a more aggressive tax environment leads to lower rather than higher revenues.”

Yesterday, HM Revenue & Customs figures showed that inheritance tax receipts totalled £6.6 billion through the first nine months of 2025/26, a rise of 4% on the same period in 2024/25.