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Taxing Wealth

Wealth inequality in the UK is surging, while millions don’t have enough to get by. All the while our underfunded NHS and public services continue to struggle. We need to tax the very rich more to save our society.

On this page:

What’s the problem?

  • The wealth of the super rich is ballooning

    The UK is home to an extraordinary number of billionaires – their wealth has increased twelvefold in thirty years. While the world’s ten richest men recently doubled their fortunes in the space of two years.

  • Poverty and inequality are surging

    At the other end of the scale, poverty is surging. Fodbank use is up nearly ten fold since 2012. The gap between those at the top of the wealth scale and those at the bottom is widening, with women and minority groups especially affected.

  • The NHS and public services are in crisis

    The NHS, our schools, emergency services and local councils are all crying out for more funding to keep their essential services running. These things aren’t ‘nice to haves’, they’re necessary. We need more tax revenue to keep them running.

How can we fix it?

  • New taxes on wealth

    We’re campaigning for a new wealth tax: a 2% levy on individuals who own assets worth more than £10 million. It would affect 0.04% of the UK population. And we’re campaigning to apply national insurance to investment income, raising up to £24 billion a year.

  • Reform existing taxes on wealth

    Those who get their income from stocks, shares and other assets often pay far less tax than those who work. We campaign for the tax rates on these forms of income to be equalised with income tax. So we all pay the same rates. It could raise £16.7 billion a year. Additionally we campaign for National Insurance to be applied to all forms of income, not just work. This would raise an additional £10.2 billion a year.

  • Clamp down on tax havens

    Hundreds of billions of pounds are lost every single year to tax avoidance via tax havens. We campaign for global action against tax havens. We’re demanding more transparency – and global minimum rates of tax, so countries aren’t undercutting each other.

Taking the message to Downing Street


^ Watch our Head of Advocacy and Policy Rachael Henry deliver a wealth tax message outside Downing Street in 2023.

Resources

  • In Stark Relief

    How inheritance tax breaks favour the well off

    This report provides evidence of how inheritance tax reliefs work to protect the assets of already wealthy families in a way that is hard to justify.

    Download Report

  • The World We Want

    The role of taxes in funding the NHS and other public services

    This report provides evidence of how inheritance tax reliefs work to protect the assets of already wealthy families in a way that is hard to justify.

    Download Report

  • A manifesto for tax equality

    This report provides evidence of how inheritance tax reliefs work to protect the assets of already wealthy families in a way that is hard to justify.

    Download Manifesto

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