Europeans in UK pay more tax than Northern Ireland and Wales combined

New statistics show EEA citizens paid £16.4bn in income tax and NIC

New figures show that Europeans are contributing more in income taxes than Wales and Northern Ireland combined, demonstrating the risks of a ‘hard Brexit’, says Gita Petkevica, Managing Director of Opal Transfer, a leading Fintech money transfer service.

Figures released by HMRC shows that EEA citizens paid £16.4bn in Income Tax and NICs combined in 2014-15 (most recent data available). This was £3bn higher than that of Northern Ireland and Wales combined (£13.4bn), despite there being 1.4m fewer Europeans in the UK than the 5 million people in N Ireland and Wales.

Overall EU citizens are paying 5.7 per cent of the total income tax in the UK take despite accounting for 5.5 per cent of the UK population. In addition to this, 192,000 (6.6 per cent) Europeans are higher rate taxpayers, demonstrating their value to the UK economy.

Opal Transfer says that these figures challenge the preconception that European migrants are here to claim benefits and tax credits. EEA nationals who have moved to the UK since 6^th April 2011 are claiming less than 2 per cent of all tax credits.

These statistics demonstrate that the vast majority of European migrants come to the UK to work, and are a highly productive and valuable part of the UK economy.