#033 Tax The Fat Cats

Ten Progressive Tax Changes To Obviate The Need For Austerity 2.0

Jeremy Hunt MP, the latest tory chancellor of the exchequer, on the 17th November 2022, will release a package of spending cuts & tax increases, that together will make up austerity 2.0, the next attack on working people, in the middle of an ongoing cost of living crisis in Britain.

At the time of writing, Hunt has already made significant reversals to the decisions of the chancellor that preceded him, Kwasi Kwarteng MP. The most notable of these being the decision to cancel Kwarteng’s cancellation of the significant rise in corporation tax, in April 2023, from 19% to 25%. This is significant in that it hopes to raise somewhere in the region of £18 billion, to help reduce debt as a share of the economy, and it proves even the conservative government knows significant amounts of revenue can be raised through increasing taxes on those that hold wealth & capital.

Jeremy Hunt MP reverses ‘almost all’ tax cuts of mini-budget (October 2022)

Here I propose ten more tax rise policies, that could be enacted by the U.K. government instead of the damaging spending cuts it likely has planned, that will likely hit lower earners & benefit claimants who pay basic rate income tax, basic rate National Insurance & VAT, at this difficult time.

1. Tax personal wealth & capital intelligently,
   eg, 1% over £5 million in net assets.
2. Institute a land value tax on commercial property, to replace business rates.
3. Institute a tougher windfall tax on the profits of oil and gas companies
   (https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-63409687 & shorturl.at/itFZ7).
4. Decrease the threshold for the additional (highest) rate of income tax (currently 45%), down from £150'000, to say income earned above £125,140 per year, the point at which people get zero personal (income tax free) allowance.
5. Turn national insurance into a progressive tax by taxing the higher rate, at a higher rate than the basic rate,
   e.g., basic N.I. rate at 12%, taxed on income between £12'570 and £50,270, 15% on income earned between £50,270 and £125,140, and then say 20% for income earned above £125,140.
6. Apply national insurance to investment income.
7. Tax dividends at the same rate as income tax and scrap the tax-free dividend allowance.
8. Tax capital gains at the same rate income is taxed.
9. Institute an online sales tax.
10. Scrap the “non-dom” regime for those living in Britain.

‘The Case for a Wealth Tax’ (The Financial Times)

Economist Richard J. Murphy