Increase in income tax receipts sees first July surplus for three years

26 Aug 2015

Government borrowing was in surplus by £1.3bn in July, figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) have shown.

This is the first time that the UK government has spent less than it received in taxes and other forms of income in the month of July since 2012.

The surplus is largely due to an increase in income tax receipts. Some £59.1bn in income was received in July 2015, which is about 4% higher than last year's figure.

In terms of spending, the ONS says that £3.2 billion was saved on the cost of the ‘day-to-day’ activities of the public sector (the current budget deficit), while £1.9 billion was spent on infrastructure (net investment).

Although the ONS states that annual borrowing has been falling since its peak in the financial year ending March 2010, public sector net debt is still currently at £1.5 trillion (excluding public sector banks), equivalent to 80.8% of GDP.

Chancellor George Osborne said: ‘The recovery is well established, tax revenues are up and we have more than halved the deficit. But with debt over 80% of GDP, the job is not done.’

The ONS said that the £1.3bn surplus was ‘broadly in line with market expectation’.