The new tax rate of 50 per cent on income over £150,000 will give the HMRC a bigger share of City bonuses.

In news that may be of interest to those running a new recruitment agency serving the UK financial services sector, the taxman is set to take the lion's share of City bonuses.

According to the Centre for Economics and Business Research (CEBR), bonus payouts in the City of London are forecast to rise to £6.8 billion, up from £6 billion in the last fiscal year.

This is good news to Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs (HMRC) as it will have a bigger chunk of the bonus pot thanks to the new tax rate of 50 per cent on income over £150,000.

"Despite contributing billions of pounds in tax already the public's appetite for a larger slice of City bonuses will not go away," commented Benjamin Williamson, CEBR economist and co-author of the research.

"The recent change to the tax system has shifted the balance of rewards from City bonuses in favour of the government."

Last week it was revealed that the number of jobs created in the City will hit 22,000 over the next two years.