The debate around taxation in recent years has often focused on whether or not different individuals and groups in society pay their “fair share”. But this emotive debate is rarely based on evidence. New figures show that the top 3,000 earners in the UK pay more Income Tax than the bottom 9 million earners.
The Institute for Fiscal Studies has voiced concerns that the Exchequer is increasingly reliant on a very small group of taxpayers for a very large proportion of tax revenues and has said that taxing them more is not a sustainable long-term strategy. But high taxes aren’t just an issue for those at the top of the income spectrum. This year, Value Added Tax will be the government’s second biggest revenue raiser and as a share of income it hits lowest income households hardest.
This research looks at how much households across the income spectrum and regions of the UK pay in taxes and how much they receive in benefits and services such as education and the NHS.