Insurance premium tax (IPT) receipts reached £956m in October 2024, according to data from HM Revenue & Customs.
The sum brought the seventh-month total for the 2024/25 tax year to £5.5bn.
The total IPT revenue for October was 24% higher than October 2023 (£770m) and exceeded last year’s seventh-month total for the 2024/25 tax year (£4.8bn) by 14% or £689m.
Cara Spinks, head of life and health at financial services consultancy Broadstone, said: “Insurance premium tax was not on the cards in October’s Autumn Budget, despite many hoping for the chancellor to announce some measures to relieve the rising costs on many important insurance products.
“Health insurance products, such as health cash plans and private medical insurance, have seen increased pressure on premiums at a time when NHS challenges are driving employers to expand coverage of these healthcare benefits to support their employees’ health, and individuals look to the more efficient private healthcare market.
“IPT is an increasingly lucrative source of income for the Treasury, but with rising costs pushing up premiums, the affordability of the private sector is narrowing for businesses and individuals alike, risking the many preventative health benefits that can be gained from wider access to the UK’s private healthcare market.
“With the increase in employers’ national insurance adding to cost pressures for businesses, and the NHS still struggling with a 7.57 million long waiting list, we encourage the government to consider reducing IPT on health insurance products to promote the preventative benefits these products can bring and support the health and wellbeing of the UK workforce along with long-term economic growth.”