A wealth tax is a hugely attractive concept for many, as it sounds simple and fair: the wealthy, of course, are those whom we ought to be taxing, since they have, as Labour politicians forever remind us, the ‘broadest shoulders’. It is certainly popular with the voters, and a YouGov poll last week found that […]
Economic growth has become the defining issue of our time. After years of stagnating productivity, squeezed living standards, rising taxes and ballooning government debt, the key question that our politicians are grappling with is whether we can reverse this decline and kickstart economic growth once again. This centrality of this to our politics is evidenced […]
Today the Tax Foundation publishes its International Tax Competitiveness Index – and it’s not good news for the UK, which comes 32nd out of 38 OECD countries. The Index, produced in the US, measures how pro-growth a tax system is. Importantly, it does not measure the overall level of taxation, but the way taxes are […]
A year into this Labour Government, the Conservatives remain trapped in an identity crisis. The polls are grim, morale is lower still and every new policy announcement has seemed to only invite the same weary question: what does the party actually stand for? In that context, Kemi Badenoch’s first ever conference speech was always going […]
Ever since Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels published ‘The Communist Manifesto’, progressive taxation has been the dominant model. Britain is no exception, but what we ended up with is not a principled system of fairness, but a masterclass in bad design. Thresholds and tapers defy common sense, clawbacks ambush families and frozen allowances quietly drag […]
As Angela Rayner contemplated her future this weekend, she might usefully have considered joining the ranks of those who advocate for greater tax simplicity. We are right to expect more from cabinet ministers than from the average person, but when even the Deputy Prime Minister can’t get it right, perhaps it is time to acknowledge […]
The slow, warm days of August are traditionally when Treasury spin doctors start floating ideas for an upcoming Autumn Budget. This year’s kite-flying included replacing stamp duty with a property sales tax which, sadly, is the economic equivalent of putting lipstick on a pig. Stamp duty is already a kind of sales tax, so replacing […]
For years now, the TaxPayers’ Alliance’s ‘Tax Briefing Room’ has been a go-to resource for campaigners, policymakers, politicians and ordinary taxpayers seeking to brush up on the UK tax system. Keeping it up-to-date is an arduous task. Given the endless meddling of UK policymakers, significant parts seem to become outdated every time a Budget comes […]
I’ve just returned from the US, where can-do spirit and positivity were on abundant display – a welcome contrast to the self-doubt and anaemic growth Labour are presiding over. Instead, talk in Washington, as well as in an Alabama congressional district, was of cutting taxes, increasing investment and building everything from power plants to manufacturing […]
Chancellor Rachel Reeves is short on options. She seems unlikely to meet her fiscal rules unless something changes, and with bond markets raising the cost of borrowing to new highs, not changing something doesn’t seem like an option. The Government’s attempts to cut spending ended in tears, as many people predicted they would. Labour backbench […]
Happy Tax Freedom Day, to all who celebrate! Although it’s not exactly a cause for celebration. British people have spent 162 days of 2025 paying off their taxes. By our calculations, Labour will see us off with the highest tax burden in UK history by the end of this Parliament. Is there any way to […]
Nigel Farage made a bold pitch to British families this week, announcing Reform’s plan to introduce a fully transferable marriage allowance alongside promises to scrap the two-child benefit cap and restore winter fuel payments. Standing at a Westminster press conference, the Reform leader declared his party would help families feel ‘financially able’ to have children. […]
Under Donald Trump’s mass tariffs scheme, the UK is one of a number of countries on the minimum rate of 10% (along with Australia, Singapore, Brazil, Argentina, UAE, Egypt and others). Much of the world economy is on much higher tariff rates. The EU rate is 20%. Vietnam’s is 46%. China’s is 54%. The fact […]
As HL Mencken pointed out, to every complex problem there is a solution that is clear, simple and wrong. But not so for the UK’s current budgetary woes. I have a clear and simple solution that would make Rachel Reeves’ accounts problems disappear into the ether, and I can even lower tax rates as I […]
The most important month for the public finances each year is January, because that is when self-assessment receipts come in. So economists’ eyes were peeled this morning, as the January 2025 data was released, particularly as that starts to give us the real picture about how much trouble Rachel Reeves’ Budget plans are in. The […]
In the latest episode of our weekly podcast, The Capitalist: Has Reform UK’s energy plan exposed the party’s economic failings? And will Kemi Badenoch capitalise on this misstep? Marc Sidwell is joined by Dr Lawrence Newport and Albie Amankona to break down a week of political turbulence. Plus: Emmanuel Macron warns of the ‘electroshock’ of a […]
