Rich individuals needs to be taxed extra if they’ve £10million in belongings, public says

A majority of people support hiking taxes on the assets of the wealthiest people in an effort to raise billions, a poll finds today.

It found a huge 72% of voters would support a 1-2% tax on assets over £10million – a measure estimated to impact just 20,000 people in the UK – to raise £22billion-per-year. Just 13% said they would not support such a measure.

The survey for Tax Justice UK also found almost two-thirds (64%) would be more likely to back a political party pledging higher taxes on the wealth of the very richest to fund public services like the crisis-hit NHS.

Head of advocacy and tax policy at Tax Justice UK, Rachael Henry, said: “Taxing the wealth of the very richest is an extremely popular policy – a vote winner – and an incredibly sensible way to help fix the country. People in Britain are really struggling and so are public services.”

She added: “The NHS is wounded, getting an NHS dentist is akin to a lottery win, and GP surgeries are creaking under pressure. Politicians need to see the wood for the trees and use the tools available to them to inject life back into the country.”

The 1-2% tax on assets over £10million one of six proposals put forward by Tax Justice UK, which campaigns for a fair tax system, ahead of last year’s Spring Budget.

Labour’s Shadow Chancellor Rachel Reeves has ruled out wealth taxes but vowed to close loopholes in the Tory plan to scrap the non-dom tax status for the super-rich. She has also pledged to fund more NHS appointmens and breakfast clubs in schools with a new crackdown on “tax dodgers” – raising an estimated £5billion-per-year. Speaking last month, she said Labour will “take on the tax dodgers because if you make your home and do your business in Britain, then you should pay your taxes here too”.