The hedge fund industry has issued data on how much tax it paid in the UK that might confound some of the standard cliches about the tax conduct of financial sector businesses.

The amount of tax paid by UK hedge funds and their employees has doubled in the years between 2009 and last year, an outcome the industry chose to highlight amid continued attacks on the financial industry by politicians and media over its tax affairs.

UK hedge fund firms and their employees contributed an estimated £4 billion ($6.09 billion) to HM Revenue and Customs in 2014, according to the Alternative Investment Management Association. The figures are double the £1.7 billion ($2.6 billion) paid on profits and income deriving from the UK industry in 2009 – an increase that the hedge fund body attributes to the growth of the hedge fund industry in the UK and recent changes to the tax system.

AIMA predicts the hedge fund industry’s tax contribution will continue to rise in 2015 in line with the changes to partnership tax rules that were introduced last year. AIMA released the findings with a briefing paper in which it clarifies what it sees as “confusion over two different stamp duty tax regimes” and challenges assertions that the hedge fund industry has received tax breaks or is exploiting loopholes.

At a time when financial industry sectors are sometimes attacked for aiding tax dodgers – as in the recent case of HSBC’s private bank – or minimising its own tax bills, the AIMA data provides something of a corrective.

“Despite some of the recent highly publicised claims, it is clear that the tax contribution of the 500 firms and 40,000 people working in the hedge fund sector in Britain has actually increased to record levels in recent years,” Jack Inglis, chief executive of AIMA, said in a statement.

The organisation argues that the hedge fund industry has not benefitted directly or indirectly from last year’s repeal of stamp duty payments on UK authorised unit trusts and open-ended investment companies. Inglis states that the measure – “described as a tax giveaway” worth £145 million to the hedge fund industry – instead benefits ordinary savers and pensioners.

AIMA also refutes claims that hedge funds are exploiting a loophole to avoid paying stamp tax on UK share prices. “The proposal to impose stamp duty on certain derivatives transactions would impact all participants on the London Stock Exchange, from ordinary savers to large institutional investors. Financial transaction taxes always damage equities markets and this one, were it to be introduced, would undermine the competitiveness of the City of London and increase the cost of capital to ordinary British businesses,” Inglis said.