By Darwin Friend, researcher at the TaxPayers’ Alliance The annual event which businesses across the country fear is upon us: the deadline for self-assessment tax returns. With 4.96 million Britons self-employed and rising, a simpler system of self-assessment should be a priority for the government. Unfortunately, it continues to be... Read more...
by Islay May Aitchison, researcher at the TaxPayers' AllianceThis week, the planet’s best and brightest minds are meeting in Davos, Switzerland for the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting. The rest of us are told it’s a critical moment of corporate and governmental collaboration — through panel discussions and informal talks,... Read more...
By Jeremy Hutton, Policy Analyst Defence procurement is a constant bugbear of British governments. Numerous administrations have promised to fix it, all came up short. So what is going on? Is there actually a problem to be fixed, or is it one of perception? Do other countries share similar issues?... Read more...
By Sam Packer, media campaign manager As we enter a new year with a new government, it is worth reflecting that a significant proportion of the decisions made on how to spend taxpayer money spent will not be taken by anyone new - because large-scale budgets are the responsibility of... Read more...
By Sam Packer, media campaign manager Jeremy Corbyn’s retro-socialist Labour party have been defeated in a general election. Not merely bested, but genuinely beaten. Their hare-brained prospectus for government was unpopular enough that the party is the first opposition in British history to have substantially fewer seats after nine straight... Read more...
By Jeremy Hutton, Policy Analyst The TaxPayers’ Alliance is non-partisan, aiming to spread our core messages of lower taxes, better services and improved accountability across the political spectrum. We believe that people spend their money far better than politicians and bureaucrats, and tax and spending policies should reflect that. We... Read more...
By Sam Packer, media campaign manager Last Thursday was the UN’s world television day. Established in the 1990s, and perhaps not the most widely celebrated awareness day in an age where a new one arrives weekly, it is nonetheless a helpful reminder that television remains the single most used form... Read more...
By Sam Packer, media campaign manager Perhaps it is not surprising that it has taken a comedian to make tax remotely funny. Libertarian comedian Dominic Frisby has written a hugely readable, well-researched text about the history, reality and future of tax which can draw the occasional chuckle. It is also... Read more...
by Harry Fone, Grassroots Campaign Manager at the TaxPayers' Alliance In 2018-19 there were over a million incidents of fly-tipping in England and nearly two-thirds of cases involved household rubbish. It's no surprise that council waste collection is discussed again and again on local radio stations all over the nation.... Read more...
by Harry Fone, Grassroots Campaign Manager A new report released by the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) has analysed funding for local authorities and made a series of recommendations. Few would challenge the IFS' argument that the present funding model is unsustainable and alternative solutions must be sought. As many... Read more...
By Jeremy Hutton, Policy Analyst On this day thirty years ago, the infamous Berlin Wall finally fell. For 28 years the wall stood, guarded by thousands of Soviet soldiers. For that time it divided families, split communities, and kept over a million Berliners from travelling freely throughout their homeland. Even... Read more...
By Scott Simmonds, Researcher at TaxPayers' Alliance Socialism, and socialist ideas, are having something of a revival at the moment. Like some obscure 70’s bands you thought were long gone, socialism is now touring again, captivating a newer younger audience.With this in mind, the TaxPayers’ Alliance ‘Stand Against Socialism’ campaign... Read more...
By Sam Packer, Media Campaign Manager Tomorrow morning England’s rugby players will attempt to be the second of the nation’s major sporting sides to be crowned champions of the world in 2019, following the cricket side’s July triumph. It is sometimes said in Westminster that sporting success means good news for the poll ratings... Read more...
Article written by Elke Asen of the Tax Foundation. The United Kingdom ranks 25th in our recently released 2019 International Tax Competitiveness Index, a study that measures and compares how well OECD countries promote sustainable economic growth and investment through competitive and neutral tax systems. While the UK has improved its rank by one spot compared to... Read more...
By Darwin Friend, Researcher The world is getting warmer, and to prevent the oncoming environmental disaster we must completely abandon capitalism and the free market, destroying the pillars of our economic prosperity. This is the argument of the radical left-wing campaigners, such as Extinction Rebellion, who are currently camped out... Read more...
By Stephanie Rudenko, Volunteer As we know from the TPA’s recent Freedom Factbook, freedom has changed the world. Freedom can be used in many ways. Deliveroo, Uber, WhatsApp, CityMapper and Hinge are all apps and services that have used the freedom of technology to innovate and try new things. Many... Read more...
By Policy Analyst, Jeremy Hutton. When you first think of foreign aid, you probably think of one of two things. The first is saving lives through things like mosquito nets, building wells and providing disaster relief. The alternative thought might be one of corruption, waste, and crooked NGOs. But whether you are... Read more...
By Jeremy Hutton, Policy Analyst Last week the prime minister proudly pledged to “bring shipbuilding back to the UK.” This of course came as something of a surprise, as all of Britain’s current and future warships are British-built anyway. Nevertheless, underpinning this was the announcement that Babcock International had been... Read more...
By Mungo Fenwick, Volunteer The Brexit drama in Westminster over the last few weeks has overshadowed an otherwise very important moment for taxpayers. The Spending Plan was a major statement made by the Chancellor, who declared that the Conservative government were ‘turning the page on austerity’. Sajid Javid outlined his... Read more...
By Bradley Goodwin, Volunteer In the current climate, some socialists would love you to think that they’re the only ones who care about our planet. Fanatical left-wing campaigners, like Extinction Rebellion, scream at us about the need to stop everyday activities like driving and eating meat. Then there’s the Green... Read more...
John O'Connell writes for CapX So now we know for sure. Thanks to Grant Shapps, Westminster’s biggest open secret is finally out there. HS2 is actually going to cost considerably more than we were told four years ago. For us at the TaxPayers’ Alliance, this is a bittersweet moment. It’s... Read more...
By Bradley Goodwin, volunteer. For nearly 200 years, thanks to Sir Robert Peel, British law and order has been defined by the ‘bobby on the beat’. As Peel makes clear, police should prevent crime and disorder by maintaining public support, by “absolutely impartial service to the law” and the “offering... Read more...
By Charles Amos, Local Coordinator for Sussex High streets up and down the country are experiencing difficult times and have been for a while now. If we’re being honest, one of the main reasons for this is the increase in online shopping. Many consumers have welcomed its advantages, at the... Read more...