Our approach
Britain Needs Us is run by a private citizen, not an economist, not a Treasury official, and not a financial services firm. These figures were compiled using publicly available government data because no government agency presents this information in plain English, per household, per month.
If there are errors in our calculations, we welcome corrections — and we would note that the difficulty of reaching these numbers is itself the point. A citizen should not need a degree in economics to understand what they pay.
If the government believes our methodology is wrong, we invite them to publish their own per-household, per-month breakdown in plain English. We will link to it here.
Data sources
| Figure | Source | Publication | Date Retrieved |
|---|---|---|---|
| Total receipts £1,139bn | ONS | Public Sector Current Receipts | March 2026 |
| Households 28.6m | ONS | Families and Households UK 2024 | July 2025 |
| Per household/month £3,319 | Derived | £1,139bn ÷ 28.6m ÷ 12 | March 2026 |
| Debt interest £106bn | House of Commons Library | Budget deficit short guide | March 2026 |
| NHS spend £197bn | HM Treasury | PSS July 2025 | March 2026 |
| Housing spend £11bn | HM Treasury | PESA July 2025 | March 2026 |
| Fiscal drag ~£25bn | OBR/IFS | Threshold freeze analysis | March 2026 |
| Tax burden 39.4% GDP | IFS | Green Budget 2025 | March 2026 |
| National debt £2.8tn | ONS | Public Sector Finances | March 2026 |
| NHS waiting list 7.8m | NHS England | Referral to Treatment | Feb 2026 |
| Homes built 156,000 | MHCLG | Live Tables | 2025 |
| Council Tax 2026-27: Average Band D up £111 to £2,392 | MHCLG | Council Tax statistics | 2026 |
| Energy Price Cap Q2 2026: £1,641 — down £117 (-6.6%) from Q1 | Ofgem | Price Cap announcement | Q2 2026 |
| Fuel Duty 2026-27: Three-step escalator: Sept/Dec 2026/Mar 2027 | HMRC / Budget 2025 | Autumn Budget 2025 | 2026 |
| Tobacco Duty Nov 2025: RPI+2% escalator + £2.20/100 uplift Oct 2026 | HMRC | Tobacco Duty rates | Nov 2025 |
| Alcohol Duty Feb 2026: Annual CPI uprating confirmed | HMRC | Alcohol Duty rates | Feb 2026 |
| Ukraine support Mar 2026: £4.5bn confirmed for 2026/27 | HM Treasury | Spending announcement | Mar 2026 |
| Food inflation Mar 2026: 3.7% annual — £97/wk avg household spend | ONS / Food Foundation | CPI detail / food spend data | Mar 2026 |
| TV Licence Feb 2026: £180/yr from 1 April 2026 (+£5.50) | DCMS | BBC Licence Fee announcement | Feb 2026 |
| Congestion Charge Jan 2026: £18/day from 2 Jan 2026 (was £15); EVs no longer exempt | TfL | Congestion Charge update | Jan 2026 |
How the 57% is calculated
We take total government receipts (£1,139bn) and divide by total household income across 28.6m households. The result — approximately 57% — represents the share of average gross household income consumed by all forms of taxation: direct (income tax, NI), indirect (VAT, council tax), and embedded (fuel duty, insurance premium tax, fiscal drag, and the other stealth mechanisms).
This is higher than the payslip rate because it includes taxes you never see on any statement.
How we count 47 taxes
The headline of “27 stealth taxes” refers to the count of mechanisms with a stealth or hidden character — frozen thresholds, escalators, embedded charges, and newly introduced levies. The full count of UK taxes paid by households is 47, organised in eight groups: income & employment (5), spending (10), property & wealth (10), investment income (4), motoring & transport (6), business taxes borne via prices/wages (5), environmental & sin levies (3), and government charges & mandatory levies (4). Each tax has its own legislative basis and HMRC / devolved-administration line. The 27-vs-47 distinction is set out in the /learn/47-uk-taxes-complete-list/ article.
How we built the 2026/27 comparison
The 2026/27 figures come from the Office for Budget Responsibility’s November 2025 Economic and Fiscal Outlook, published alongside the Autumn Budget on 26 November 2025. Per-household figures use the ONS forecast of 29.0m UK households for 2026. Where 2025/26 figures are marked “(prov.)”, they are the latest provisional outturn from HMRC’s monthly bulletin (April 2026) and ONS PSF (April 2026). Final audited figures will appear in HMRC’s Annual Report and Accounts in summer 2026; we will refresh at that point.
Corrections
Email matt@britainneedsus.co.uk with: the figure you believe is wrong, the correct figure, and the source.
Valid corrections will be updated within 5 working days with a note and credit.
These are estimates produced by a private individual using publicly available government data. They do not constitute financial, tax, or legal advice. Britain Needs Us is not regulated by the FCA. All figures are subject to quarterly update when new government data is published.