A banking lobby group has been accused of cherrypicking data and trying to mislead the British government by claiming a tax rise for banks at next week’s budget would leave London less competitive than rival financial hubs.

UK Finance, which represents banks including Lloyds, JP Morgan and Revolut, commissions an annual report tallying up all the taxes shouldered by a large bank, including corporation tax, social security, VAT and bank-specific levies.

The report, put together by PwC, lists London as the most tax-intensive city, charging a “total tax rate” of 46.2%, compared with 42.2% in Amsterdam, 39.1% in Frankfurt, 29% in Dublin and 27.9% in New York.

The figures have been heavily pushed by UK Finance, including in a recent letter to John Healey , the chancellor, in which it warned that banks could shift business and jobs to rival hubs if threatened with higher bills.

However, questions are now being raised about the lobby group’s data.…