A critical part of the Government’s work on cutting spending is to introduce greater transparency, so taxpayers can see how their money is spent. Tax transparency is just as important, so that people know how much they are paying. Read more...
In the first in a new series of regional research notes focusing on the Midlands, the TaxPayers’ Alliance can reveal the cost of flights by authorities in the area over the last two years. Our findings show that 48 councils in the region have continued to spend money on air... Read more...
National Insurance is almost indistinguishable from Income Tax in its function of raising revenue for the Government and in the way it affects incentives for employees. Read more...
This paper updates the TaxPayers‘ Alliance‘s 2008 publication Wasting Lives: A statistical analysis of NHS performance in a European context since 1981. It details the poor performance of the NHS when compared with European peers, despite huge increases in funding over the last decade. Read more...
With pressure on the budgets of local authorities and council tax having doubled over the past decade, councils need to do all they can to control unnecessary spending and deliver better value for money. Read more...
Earlier this year the TaxPayers’ Alliance uncovered details of the Royal Mail surplus staff scheme. Read more...
While the business case for HS2 continues to unravel, this research note examines the hidden costs of the project. Read more...
In June the TaxPayers’ Alliance published the 2011 Trade Union Rich List. It detailed the highest paid union bosses in 2009-10. This note reveals brand new figures, showing pay and benefits from 2010-11. Read more...
The TaxPayers' Alliance (TPA) today reveals that Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC) has given up on £27.4 billion of tax revenue in the last five years. The findings are contained in a new TPA report for the 2020 Tax Commission (a joint project by the TPA and Institute of Directors). If the Government simplified the tax code, errors on this scale... Read more...
Ordinary people are paying a ruinous price for the attempts politicians make to control greenhouse gas emissions. Climate change policies dramatically raise electricity bills; make it much more expensive to drive to work or fly on holiday; put manufacturing workers out of a job and sometimes even make your food... Read more...
After we uncovered which websites Department for Work and Pensions staff had been visiting, we received a Freedom of Information response from the Department for Transport, which covered their six month internet history from January to the end of May this year. Read more...
As trade unions threaten disruptive strikes, the TPA reveals 37 trade union leaders took home pay packets of £100,000 or more. Read more...
A major new YouGov / TaxPayers’ Alliance poll of 2,732 British adults reveals that the public support billions in spending cuts to foreign aid, high speed rail, trade union funding and a Green Investment bank. Read more...
During the last General Election, we published a manifesto which set out our objectives for this Parliament. We promised then that we would judge any new government against that standard. Read more...
Shortly before the last General Election, the TaxPayers’ Alliance produced a manifesto. We pledged to judge any new Government on the standard it set. The manifesto set out recommendations in three areas – tax & spending, reforming services and democracy & transparency – and divided them between measures where it expected to see action... Read more...
Corporation Tax is not fit for purpose. This new Briefing Note for the 2020 Tax Commission, written by Commissioner and Associate Professor of Economics at the ESCP Europe Business School Anthony J. Evans, measures the tax against four key criteria, and finds that it drives down wages; lowers returns for... Read more...
Police authorities are required by law to produce a Local Policing Summary every year. This summary is meant to let the public in each area know how their force is doing with meeting targets and where they see their priorities for the coming year. Read more...
Motorists are one of the most overtaxed groups in the UK and face sky-high fuel bills. Read more...
The Government’s proposed high speed rail line will not deliver the capacity needed. This report reveals for the first time a comprehensive list of which towns will be worse off and gives details of how each place could be negatively hit by worse journey times, fewer seats and/or fewer trains... Read more...
The TaxPayers’ Alliance (TPA) outlined how to abolish National Insurance by 2017 to make the tax system simpler and more transparent. National Insurance serves no purpose and has set out a package of measures to merge both employers’ and employees’ contributions with Income Tax. This detailed and extensive transition plan comes... Read more...
In April the holiday period for Empty Property Rates relief comes to an end. The TaxPayers’ Alliance (TPA) has produced this policy brief to inform taxpayers, policy makers, the media and other interested parties about the effects of that change. Read more...
We proudly present the fifth Town Hall Rich List, the 'Who's Who' of local government fat cats, detailing all those whose remuneration exceeds £100,000. Read more...
The Government claim that building their proposed new high speed rail line from London to Birmingham (HS2) will create around 40,000 jobs. Read more...
On the 12th January 2011, the Department for Education published schools’ spending data for the financial year 2009-10. This TaxPayers’ Alliance study is the first to investigate that data, and provides new insights into how schools spend their budget and the results they obtain. Read more...