New TPA Research: Soaps, celebrities and the fair tax debate


Click here to read the research note


Click here for the full press release

Would it be fair if Susan Boyle paid more tax than a banker who had earned the same amount of money? That's one of the hypothetical scenarios being presented to the newly formed 2020 Tax Commission.


As part of the 2020 Tax Commission project, the TaxPayers' Alliance has released new research to highlight potentially unfair scenarios in our current tax system. The short paper uses celebrities and familiar characters from soaps like Eastenders and The Archers to draw hypothetical examples based on characters' fictional tax circumstances.


The 2020 Tax Commission is a collaboration between the TaxPayers' Alliance and Institute of Directors. Commissioners, including leading academics, economists and tax experts, are carrying out an in-depth investigation into the case for tax reform. It will be the most thorough examination of our tax system in recent memory.


Today's research note on the matter of fairness aims to challenge the public and policy-makers to think beyond concepts of fairness that only recognise distribution.


Click here to read the research note


Click here for the full press release






Matthew Sinclair, Director of the TaxPayers’ Alliance, said:

"Most people want the Government’s decisions about tax and spending to be fair, but we can’t decide policy on the basis of an overly simplistic understanding of what that means.  Even the most progressive taxes can have perverse results, hitting some families much harder than others for no good reason.  And there is nothing fair or progressive about trapping people in dependency on benefits and subsidies.  It is vital that we start thinking about how to produce a tax system that is genuinely fairer for families and encourages a strong and dynamic economy."




Click here to read the research note


Click here for the full press release

Would it be fair if Susan Boyle paid more tax than a banker who had earned the same amount of money? That's one of the hypothetical scenarios being presented to the newly formed 2020 Tax Commission.


As part of the 2020 Tax Commission project, the TaxPayers' Alliance has released new research to highlight potentially unfair scenarios in our current tax system. The short paper uses celebrities and familiar characters from soaps like Eastenders and The Archers to draw hypothetical examples based on characters' fictional tax circumstances.


The 2020 Tax Commission is a collaboration between the TaxPayers' Alliance and Institute of Directors. Commissioners, including leading academics, economists and tax experts, are carrying out an in-depth investigation into the case for tax reform. It will be the most thorough examination of our tax system in recent memory.


Today's research note on the matter of fairness aims to challenge the public and policy-makers to think beyond concepts of fairness that only recognise distribution.


Click here to read the research note


Click here for the full press release






Matthew Sinclair, Director of the TaxPayers’ Alliance, said:

"Most people want the Government’s decisions about tax and spending to be fair, but we can’t decide policy on the basis of an overly simplistic understanding of what that means.  Even the most progressive taxes can have perverse results, hitting some families much harder than others for no good reason.  And there is nothing fair or progressive about trapping people in dependency on benefits and subsidies.  It is vital that we start thinking about how to produce a tax system that is genuinely fairer for families and encourages a strong and dynamic economy."



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