As the government prepares to cut spending to plug an estimated £35bn black hole in the nation’s finances, calls are growing for higher taxes on the super-rich, many of whom have seen their wealth soar during the pandemic. Richard Bergon, Labor MP for Leeds East, said: “While living standards are plummeting for most people, it’s boom time for the super-rich, whose wealth has soared to record highs in recent years.” Starmer, who is trying to position his party in the centre, has avoided a commitment to higher personal income taxes as Labor tries to woo the city and business people angry at the damage caused by the Tories’ mini-budget. But this approach is causing concern on his backs and more widely, with the Greens calling Labor “shy” about wealth. “Whoever is in government over the next few years will have to decide whether to cut services and raise taxes on ordinary people or tax the wealth of the richest,” Burgon, who served as shadow chancellor in Jeremy Corbyn’s shadow cabinet, said. . he told the Guardian. “Even modest wealth taxes could raise tens of billions and prevent the need for even more austerity. Wealth taxation must be the fairest way forward around which the entire labor movement is united.” The ranks of the world’s “ultra high net worth” (UHNW) individuals – those with assets of more than $50m (£43m) – grew by 46,000 last year to 218,200 people as the wealthy benefited from “almost a wealth boom”. during the recovery from the pandemic, according to investment bank Credit Suisse. The only policies announced by Labor so far are promises to scrap the no-home tax loophole and higher tax rates for private equity bosses. Salford and Eccles Labor MP Rebecca Long-Bailey, who also served in Corbyn’s shadow cabinet, said it was “simply shocking that wealth income continues to be taxed at a lower rate than income from work and this injustice must end now. “. Last month, a coalition of 40 charities and campaign groups called for change, saying Britain’s tax system was broken and the richest should pay more. Tax Justice UK claims up to £37bn could be raised by introducing a range of wealth taxes, including equalizing capital gains tax with income tax and introducing a 1% tax on assets over £10m. Under the current system, capital gains from the sale of property or shares, for example, are taxed at 20%, while income tax on wages ranges from 20% at the lowest threshold to 45% for the highest earners. Rate alignment could raise £14bn, says Tax Justice. National Insurance is not levied on investment income – a policy change here could raise £8.6bn. Long-Bailey called for the introduction of a “wealth tax on the super-rich as part of a wider redistribution of wealth to fund our public services” as well as an increase in windfall taxes on the “super-profits of oil and gas companies”. Jon Trickett, the Labor MP for Hemsworth in West Yorkshire, said it was “a scandal that the wealth and assets of the super-rich are not taxed in the way income is taxed” and that the introduction of wealth tax was “a long way off. overdue”. Archie Bland and Nimo Omer take you to the top stories and what they mean, free every weekday morning Privacy Notice: Newsletters may contain information about charities, online advertising and content sponsored by external parties. For more information, see our Privacy Policy. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and Google’s Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. He said: “With the Tories planning another era of austerity, it is time to push for a tax on the stocks, shares, property and capital of the super-rich.” Frances O’Grady, the general secretary of the TUC, the trade union umbrella body, said the time was right to look at property taxes. “Over the past decade the richest have enjoyed huge increases in their wealth. The government should now consider how it can do more to rebuild an economy that works for all, with world-class public services at its heart,” he said. “There is a particularly clear case for equating capital gains tax with income tax. It’s not fair that workers are taxed at a higher rate than people who get richer from the income their wealth generates. And it would help create the right kind of economic progress – reducing inequality and spreading opportunity more widely.” Molly Scott Cato, Green Party finance spokeswoman, said: “The Tories have created a big hole in the public finances, but there is one obvious place to plug it: taxing the super-rich. Not only do they have the broadest shoulders, but they also increased their wealth during the pandemic due to forced savings. “What is more surprising is to find Labor so cowardly on property taxes. Their proposal to repeal the non-residential status will only bring in a few billion, while a proper property tax could bring in tens of billions. We now have two weeks for Labor to remember its egalitarian roots and support the loud and growing calls for a wealth tax. Otherwise they will be complicit in the disastrous cuts to public services being cooked up by the millionaires in Nos 10 and 11 Downing Street.” Dr Phil White, a member of Patriotic Millionaires, a group of super-rich people who are calling for a permanent wealth tax on society’s wealthiest, said: “It seems to us that political parties are taking a long time to catch up with what many millionaires and the wider public want. common when it comes to taxes on wealth. Sixty-nine per cent of the UK public support a 1% wealth tax on over £10m and only 7% oppose it.’
