Every little helps to boost Tesco sales, and yet Britain’s biggest retailer is not paying anywhere near as much tax as private landlords in this country, new research shows.

The estimated total income tax contribution by private landlords exceeds £3.8bn annually, which is more than double Tesco’s entire annual tax bill of £1.63bn in 2018, according to fresh research by the National Landlords Association (NLA).

The study found that, assuming typical deductions are made for regular maintenance, finance costs, and miscellaneous legal and management expenses, landlords in England have a combined taxable income of more than £19.1bn.

Even if all these individuals pay only the basic rate of income tax this equates to an estimated annual contribution of £3.8bn in income tax alone or £1,668 per landlord, before additional liabilities such as stamp duty, capital gains tax, VAT, and the additional property levy are taken into account.

Richard Lambert, CEO of the NLA, said: “Far from being subsidised by the taxpayer, private landlords make a significant contribution to the public purse.”

The NLA forecasts that changes to landlord taxation made in 2015 are likely to increase HM Treasury’s receipts from landlords by almost £2bn – pushing total estimated income tax contributions to £5.7bn in years to come. 

Lambert added: “These dramatic increases in landlords’ tax liabilities in the UK has led many to conclude that it is no longer possible to achieve a reasonable return on investment, prompting them to sell their properties and close their businesses. This is in stark contrast to the relatively small sums paid by many major retailers and online giants.

“The NLA’s conservative estimate of landlords’ tax liability suggests that they pay more than twice as much in Income Tax alone than Tesco’s entire tax bill and a staggering 62 times Amazon’s corporation tax bill in the UK.”