‘Modest’ wealth tax on richest 0.3% could raise more than £10bn for public services, says TUC
The trade union body has set out options for taxing the small number of individuals with wealth over £3 million, £5 million and £10 million
A modest wealth tax on the richest 140,000 individuals in the country could raise more than £10bn to help pay for public services, according to the Trades Union Congress (TUC).
With the country’s public services in a dire state and with the Tories repeatedly using excuses about not having enough money to invest in them, the TUC has set out a clear plan for how further money could be raised, by taxing the wealthiest 0.3% of the UK population, as it called for a “national conversation about taxing wealth”.
The trade union body has set out options for taxing the small number of individuals with wealth over £3 million, £5 million and £10 million, excluding pensions. It says that the options are illustrative examples of what a wealth tax could look like, using Spain’s existing policy as a potential model.
It proposes the following:
- A wealth threshold of £3 million with a marginal tax rate of 1.7% would yield £2.7 billion (with the tax payable on wealth above £3 million by 142,000 individuals or 0.27% of adults in the UK)
- A further wealth threshold of £5 million with a marginal tax rate of 2.1% would yield an additional £3.2 billion (with the tax payable on wealth above £5 million by 48,000 individuals or 0.09% of adults in the UK)
- A further wealth threshold of £10 million with a marginal tax rate of 3.5 % would yield an additional £4.6 billion (with the tax payable on wealth above £10 million by 17,000 individuals or 0.02% of adults in the UK).
