Cut council tax
Council tax is a major drain on the bank balances of many households. Taxpayers all over Britain constantly have to pay inflation busting rises every year. Our research has shown that on average between 1997 and 2017, council tax increased by 57 per cent in real terms across England. At... Read more...
The dynamic tax model
In March 2022, we announced the launch of our new dynamic tax model. Built in collaboration with economic consultants Europe Economics, the model predicts the dynamic impact of tax changes on the economy and wages; using official data from the Office for Budget Responsibility (among others). TPA research director Duncan Simpson explains the... Read more...
Calling out the tax burden
We firmly believe Brits pay too much tax. Lower rates of tax always put more money in your pocket and they kick-start the economy, making the system fairer by creating more jobs and prosperity for everyone. Too often we talk about public spending with no reference to the level of... Read more...
Clean up the state
For a healthy balance of views in public life, it's important that a range of opinions are represented. Groups like the TaxPayers' Alliance and Greenpeace refuse to take taxpayers' money, but there are a plethora of groups in receipt of it – many of which then openly campaign against the... Read more...
Past: Fight the Pembrokeshire tax hike
As a result of our campaigning, Pembrokeshire council passed an amended council tax rise of 12.5 per cent, a significant reduction from the original proposal. Pembrokeshire council are proposing a 16 per cent council tax rise for residents, which TPA research has revealed would be the third largest in... Read more...
Past: Cut income tax now!
With the Spring Budget around the corner, the time has come for the chancellor to ease the burden on hard-pressed Brits by cutting income tax! In the coming weeks, we'll be releasing research, taking to the airwaves and making the case to politicians, but we'll need your help. Sign... Read more...
Past: Stamp Out Stamp Duty
In 2013, we were the first campaign to push the hated Stamp Duty Land Tax up the political and media agenda. We launched our dedicated “Stamp Out Stamp Duty” campaign which quickly gathered momentum and received widespread media coverage. Before 3 December 2014, people in the UK paid a slab... Read more...
Past: Scrap HS2
From day one, the TaxPayers’ Alliance has been rightly opposed to High Speed 2. We are all for transport infrastructure investment, but HS2 is far from the best use of taxpayers’ money. Originally estimated to cost £36 billion, we correctly estimated that the cost would be far higher. In September... Read more...
A Nation of Taxpayers - The TPA Podcast
LATEST EPISODE Britain's Quangos Uncovered & Who Really Governs Britain?Podcast host Duncan Barkes and the TPA's Elliot Keck are joined by former government adviser James Price. James is also a former Chief of Staff to a UK Chancellor and currently runs an excellent Substack entitled Who Governs Britain? | Substack... Read more...
Stop the Clock Off
ABOUT OUR CAMPAIGN: While Brits contend with a 70-year high tax burden, public bodies are moving towards a fully paid four-day working week. That's roughly equivalent to an extra 52 days of annual leave! This is simply unacceptable at a time when taxpayers are already paying over the odds for... Read more...
Past: Campaign against a Workplace Parking Levy in Bristol
Back in June 2012, Bristol City Council decided it would try to bring in a Workplace Parking Levy (WPL). They wanted to charge £1 a day per employee for companies with their own car parks. We caught wind of their plans and launched a grassroots campaign with local businesses to... Read more...
Past: Beer and alcohol duties
In early 2013, we launched an intense campaign which saw us distribute over 400,000 beer mats to pubs across the country which showed how much you paid in tax on a pint. We teamed up with The Sun, who backed our campaign and helped us get sustained coverage ahead of... Read more...
Past: Exit payments
Thanks to our campaigning, the law was changed and senior staff leaving public sector roles have payouts capped at £95,000. Our Public Sector Rich List 2015 publication sparked a national debate on golden goodbyes, with mandarins and council staff leaving their jobs with eye-watering payoffs. Quite often, the same people... Read more...
Past: Meat Tax - A Big Mis-steak
In response to the ludicrous suggestion of a new tax on processed meats, in November 2018, we hosted an event in Westminster for politicians to show their opposition to any new meat taxes. At the 'Big Meat Up', MPs and Ministers joined us for a fry up and discussed how... Read more...
Past: Spending transparency
A government is employed by the electorate; the electorate should know how taxpayer money is being spent. The government should also present their information in a way that is clear and easy to understand instead of concealing the issue behind difficult language and layers of terminology. For years politicians have... Read more...
Past: Inheritance tax
With the Daily Express, we collected over 300,000 signatures calling for the abolition of Inheritance Tax. In 2007 George Osborne promised that he would raise the tax threshold to £1 million per person. In October 2007, Alistair Darling doubled the inheritance tax threshold for married couples to £600,000. Although we... Read more...
Past: Freeze Fuel Duty
60% of what you pay for fuel goes straight to the taxman. That means for £30 in fuel £18 goes to the Exchequer, £1 to the retailer and £11 covers the cost of the fuel. In many cases fuel is the only sensible option for getting to work, taking children... Read more...
Past: Midland Metropolitan Hospital
Local residents brought a hugely important issue to our attention in 2018 - the Midland Metropolitan hospital, which stood only two thirds complete in Smethwick near Birmingham. Construction started in January 2016 but ground to a halt early in 2018 after the financial collapse of Carillion. The hospital was due... Read more...
Past: End taxpayer funded trade unions
Our award-winning Taxpayer Funding of Trade Unions campaign was started in 2010 to expose taxpayers’ subsidy of influential public sector trade unions, who are powerful advocates for higher public spending, higher taxes and burdensome regulation. Our researchers undertook one of the most comprehensive Freedom of Information campaigns ever. We requested... Read more...
Past: Battling local stealth taxes - clean air zones
Local councils are always looking for inventive new ways to take our money. With many hesitant to raise council tax and face a backlash from angry taxpayers, politicians have resorted to clever wheezes like 'Clean Air Zones'. These zones charge motorists for driving into local towns, under the mistaken belief it... Read more...
Past: Scrap the cider duty escalator
South West Coordinator Tim Newark launched a campaign in July 2013 to scrap the duty escalator on cider and stop almost a quarter of the price you pay for a pint of cider going to the taxman. Tim organised events to support the campaign, including Bristol, Bath, Colchester, Exeter, Frome,... Read more...
Past: Alcohol duty
Why is it that you pay 57% tax on a bottle of wine and 79% of a bottle of spirits? Alcohol prices in the UK are 43% higher than the EU average because of alcohol duty. In 2014, we campaigned to scrap the alcohol supertax and allow the domestic alcohol... Read more...
Past: Freeze business rates
Online shopping has helped deliver cheaper prices for consumers, but many customers like to visit shops and we will continue to make the case for cuts to ensure that shopkeepers can keep their doors open. Business rates has always been a major issue for the TPA. In fact we’ve been... Read more...
Past: Scrap APD
Air passenger duty (APD) is a levy on the airfares of adult passengers travelling from UK airports. We have one of the highest aviation taxes in Europe. Several near neighbours, including Ireland, the Netherlands and Belgium have eliminated their aviation taxes altogether. In the run up to the 2018 Budget,... Read more...
Past: Debt clock national tour
In 2010, to highlight the crushing size of the national debt, we undertook a 1,500 mile tour of Britain – featuring a 7metre long, lorry-mounted digital Debt Clock, ticking up as the Government borrows more and more money. The message to the nation's politicians was: "Wake up to the National... Read more...
Past: Quids Inn
In August 2021 we launched our Quids Inn campaign to demand VAT relief for Britain’s pubs after the battering they took during the pandemic. Tim Martin with TPA chief executive John O’Connell We partnered with industry leaders and publicans across the country. Our launch event at a Westminster... Read more...
Britain's Quangos Uncovered
For years, British politicians have promised a ‘bonfire of the quangos,’ sparking ongoing debate about the role of these domestic bodies. This rhetoric has at least kept the spotlight on what UK quangos do, who runs them, and how much of taxpayers’ money they consume. Yet, despite this scrutiny, the... Read more...