It’s been a busy year for us. A new Labour government was elected in July, presenting a chance for real tax reform. A number of political parties adopted our proposals in their manifestos, showing how far things have shifted.
We got to work right after the election to influence MPs, contacting the new government and recently elected MPs to set out our tax reform proposals.
We met with MPs and many more received our tax reform briefing, which showed how they could raise up to £60 billion a year extra from wealth taxes and closing loopholes.
Our supporters also helped influence the new intake of MPs. Over 6,400 of them sent a message to their MP – showing them that the public backs tax reform.
Wins at the Budget
We have ten core tax reform proposals. These include a 2% wealth tax on fortunes above £10m, the closure of tax loopholes and taxing income from wealth the same as income from work.
At the Budget in October, the chancellor announced four of the ten tax reform proposals we put forward would be implemented in part or full. This is a huge victory.
What changes did the Chancellor, Rachel Reeves, announce?
First, she confirmed that non-dom status will be scrapped and loopholes closed. This will mean super rich and internationally mobile people will no longer have an unfair tax status in the UK.
Second, the government announced that Capital Gains Tax would rise to 24%. We campaign for this rate to be the same as income tax rates, so this was only a partial victory. But it’s encouraging to see the government moving in the right direction.
Third, the government closed some inheritance tax loopholes, including on agricultural land. This has attracted a great deal of media attention, but I strongly believe that asking wealthy landowners to pay more tax is fair, even if the government could have done a better job of introducing the reforms. I set out the argument for this in a blog last month.
Lastly, taxes on private jets will double. The government also closed some of the loopholes in the oil and gas windfall tax. These are fair and progressive tax changes and we support them.
They could have done more
The government could have gone further. They could have raised a lot more for struggling public services and crumbling infrastructure by taxing wealth more and closing more loopholes.
But this is just the start. We believe this government can be convinced to go further – and are open to greater tax reforms that could take more from the very wealthy. This is a big opportunity.
We will keep fighting in 2025 to convince the government to tax the very rich and wealthy companies more. And we believe we have a real chance to win even more.
Ending tax havens
It’s also been a busy and successful year for our international campaigning.
We have been fighting for the government to take action against British tax havens – and for them to support tax reform at the United Nations.
Over 9,300 of you emailed your MP demanding the government take action against British tax havens, like the British Virgin Island and Cayman Islands.
Your action is paying off. The government has recently confirmed that many British Overseas Territories have now set deadlines to introduce more financial transparency in their jurisdictions.
This could be the beginning of the end of tax havens in these places.
Make Amazon Pay
We also took action to make Amazon and other big multinational corporations pay more tax.
We went to Downing Street and handed in a petition with over 100,000 signatures on it, demanding the government look into tax loopholes used by Amazon.
We were joined by an MP when we handed it in. Caitlin, our head of advocacy, made a video from Downing Street. You can watch it here.
Fighting the vested interests
We are coming up against rich and powerful vested interests who don’t want our tax system to change. These are the super rich families and huge multinational corporations – and their army of spin doctors, accountants, lawyers and bankers.
They’ve done very well from a tax system littered with loopholes and exemptions; from a tax system that fails to tax wealth properly.
They’ve built up huge piles of wealth over decades – and now use it to influence the media and the political debate.
They don’t want to see our tax system reformed and will do everything in their power to stop things changing.
We’re taking on this tiny minority, and convincing the government to do what’s in the interest of the many.
The Budget showed what we can achieve with this new Labour government. They are listening – and we’re pushing at an opening door. We’ll keep pushing in 2025.
There’s still a lot more to do, but none of our victories would have been possible without a broad movement of organisations and people demanding change.