LONDON: The total was made up of £6.4bn in taxes borne, plus £9.1bn of taxes collected, representing 2.5% of all UK tax receipts. The study found the accounting and legal sector collectively generated employment of 693,000 across the UK, or 2.2% of the workforce.
Nearly one quarter (23%) of EU employees in the sector are in the UK, and TheCityUK says the report underlines Britain’s premier position as a legal and accounting services employer, trailed by Germany at 21% of the EU’s total sector jobs, then France (10%), Spain (8%) and Italy (7%). The think tank says that added together with the significant total tax contribution for the financial services sector, reported as £71.4bn in 2015/16, the estimated total tax contribution for UK-based financial, legal and accountancy services is £87bn. Miles Celic, chief executive, TheCityUK, said: ‘The UK is the leading global hub for legal and accounting expertise and it is vital that we not only preserve that, but we continue to grow it. ‘This expertise isn’t just located in London. Right across the UK, centres of excellence, including Manchester, Bristol and Edinburgh, are adding value to the UK economy. These are also the areas we expect to see the most growth in the coming years as we move through Brexit and beyond.’ The study found that in 2016, there were nearly 60,500 legal and accounting businesses in the UK with small to medium sized enterprises with fewer than 99 employees making up 99% of all firms.
