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One-off wealth tax on millionaire couples would raise £260 billion

A one-off wealth tax would work, raise significant revenue, and be fairer and more efficient than the alternatives.
- Andy Summers
) that allows members of the public to model their own revenue-raising options, and see how much they would pay under different options.

Xổ số miền bắc thứ 6 hàng tuầnDr Arun Advani, Assistant Professor at the University of Warwick and Visiting Fellow at LSE's International Inequalities Institute, said: “We’re often told that the only way to raise serious tax revenue is from income tax, national insurance contributions, or VAT. This simply isn’t the case, so it is a political choice where to get the money from, if and when there are tax rises.” 

Emma Chamberlain, barrister at Pump Court Tax Chambers and Visiting Professor in Practice at LSE's International Inequalities Institute, said: “People sometimes say the super-rich won’t pay. My experience is they are happy to pay, as long as the tax is simple to operate, affordable and they don’t feel they aren’t being singled out with penal rates. The trouble is that our current way of taxing the wealthy is far too complicated leading to avoidance and resentment. We need a better way forward.”

Dr Andy Summers, Associate Professor at LSE’s Department of Law and Associate Member of the International Inequalities Institute, said: “Our report provides the first serious look at proposals for a UK wealth tax in nearly half a century. A one-off wealth tax would work, raise significant revenue, and be fairer and more efficient than the alternatives.”

The final report of the Wealth Tax Commission, A wealth tax for the UKXổ số miền bắc thứ 6 hàng tuần, by Dr Arun Advani (University of Warwick), Emma Chamberlain (barrister) and Dr Andy Summers (LSE) is published on the Wealth Tax Commission website:  

The report will be launched with an online public event on Wednesday 9 December at 4pm.

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Behind the article

ABOUT A ONE-OFF WEALTH TAX:

A one-off wealth tax is a tax on a person’s net wealth (all assets minus all debts) assessed at a single point in time, but payable over a number of years. The tax would be levied only on the amount of wealth that is above the threshold. One-off taxes have been used after major crises before, including in France, Germany and Japan after the Second World War and in Ireland after the Global Financial Crisis. At individual thresholds of £500,000, £1 million and £2 million a wealth tax would respectively cover 17%, 6%, and 1% of the adult population. 

ABOUT THE WEALTH TAX COMMISSION: 

Xổ số miền bắc thứ 6 hàng tuầnThe Wealth Tax Commission was founded in April 2020 to study whether a wealth tax for the UK would be desirable and deliverable. It commissioned a network of over fifty international experts on tax policy – including academics, policymakers and tax practitioners – to contribute evidence on this issue.

Xổ số miền bắc thứ 6 hàng tuầnContributors to the Commission included economists from Institute for Fiscal Studies, Resolution Foundation, Institute for Government and the OECD. Evidence was also received from tax practitioners and policymakers including the former head of HMRC.

Xổ số miền bắc thứ 6 hàng tuầnThe Commissioners’ final report is independent and does not necessarily represent the views of contributors. The evidence that the Commissioners used to prepare their final report was published in October 2020 at , providing the largest repository of evidence on wealth taxes globally to date. It comprises half a million words across more than thirty papers, covering all aspects of wealth tax design – both principle and practice.

Dr Arun Advani, Professor Emma Chamberlain and Dr Andy Summers, the Commissioners, are members of the International Inequalities Institute’s Wealth, Elites and Tax Justice research theme.

Xổ số miền bắc thứ 6 hàng tuầnThe Wealth Tax Commission was funded by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) through CAGE at Warwick (ES/L011719/1) and a COVID-19 Rapid Response Grant (ES/V012657/1), and by the COVID-19 Rapid Response Fund at LSE's International Inequalities Institute.