The 49-year high tax burden estimate for 2018-19 has increased from 34.3 to 34.6 per cent of GDP. Treasury plans keep Britain’s historic-high tax burden at 49-year high plateau for next five years. Overall government revenues this year are at a 32-year high, at 37 per cent of GDP. This... Read more...
Business rates are widely seen by commercial enterprises, both large and small, as the tax on business that is the least fairly applied, poorly administered and most in need of reform. The principle reasons for the unpopularity of business rates are: Their sheer scale in relation to rental values, rising... Read more...
It was good to hear the chancellor say that 'ending austerity' should not mean tax hikes. Increases in the personal allowance and higher rate income tax thresholds, with freezes to taxes on beer, cider, fuel and short-haul flights, will give much-needed breathing space to hard-pressed taxpayers. That said, the tax burden overall... Read more...
Despite predicting it would eliminate the budget deficit by 2015, then 2017, then 2019, after nearly nine years in power the government has failed to do so. It now only expects to balance the budget by the middle of the next decade. Should the governments’ current fiscal targets prove over... Read more...
The TaxPayers' Alliance has formally submitted a representation for Budget 2018, calling for a cut to Air Passenger Duty. Buying a ticket for a long-haul flight out of the UK will set you back at least £78 in air passenger duty, a tax levied on all adult flyers from UK... Read more...
Introduction Membership of trade unions, for both public and private sector workers, has been declining for many years: 23.2 per cent were members in 2017. Yet at least 31 bosses of trade unions with a high concentration of public sector workers were in receipt of remuneration in excess of £100,000... Read more...
This study looks at occupational pension schemes, which are those set up by employers for the benefit of their employees. A contribution is made by both the employer and employee into these schemes. The government’s automatic enrolment initiative was designed to set up just such pension schemes.Specifically, the report compares... Read more...
Local authorities across the country have spent over £4.5million since 2015 on cars for mayors’ usage. Mayors and council chairmen and women often fulfil ceremonial duties within their local authority and serve as the ‘first citizen’. Yet these generally mundane and little cared-for functions do not require the purchasing or... Read more...
Highest tax burden this year since 1969-70 The government is seeking new policy ideas as it tries to find ways to pay for a promised funding boost for the NHS. Pressure is mounting for spending increases elsewhere, too, with vigorous calls for cash injections for defence and education. But a... Read more...
Tax cuts could help pay for better public services, says TaxPayers’ Alliance Six months on from the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, new analysis shows that the US economy is in good shape. Unemployment has continued its downward trend to 3.8 per cent in May 2018 and employees have benefited from higher earnings growth... Read more...
Local authorities have spent £6.8 million on flights since 2015, with some flying business class Research by the TaxPayers’ Alliance (TPA) reveals the cost to taxpayers of flights for local bureaucrats over the last three years. Since 2015, local authorities in Britain have spent £6,792,500 on air travel, with each... Read more...
‘Automate the state’ - TaxPayers’ Alliance launches campaign to deliver better quality public services After the announcement that more money will be spent on the NHS, we should pick up the pace of automation in healthcare Introducing more automation into the public sector more broadly can save taxpayers £17 billion a... Read more...
A new report by the TaxPayers’ Alliance details the enormous savings to British taxpayers by legalising cannabis. The UK could save at least £891.72 million a year in reduced spending by police, prisons, courts and the NHS through pain relief treatments. CLICK HERE TO READ THE FULL PAPER. Read more...
The Metropolitan Police, and its spending and responsibilities, has long garnered national political interest. The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, has insisted that declining numbers of police staff, both clerical and frontline, “presents a serious risk to the safety of Londoners.” In an attempt to allay fears over the alleged... Read more...
Today the TaxPayers’ Alliance have released a damning report exposing the excessive travel expenses of NHS staff. For the first time, it can be revealed that taxpayers have forked out millions of pounds to pay for business class flights for bureaucrats in the NHS. Since 2015, staff at NHS quangos have taken... Read more...
A new report released by the TaxPayers’ Alliance has revealed the shocking cost of poor productivity in Britain and its impact on wages. Since the great recession, advanced economies have all been suffering from weak productivity growth, with few more afflicted than Britain’s. The scale of the issue is enormous, and the... Read more...
A new report out by the TaxPayers’ Alliance shows that the NHS could save nearly £800 million by merging various NHS management bodies.The report advocates reducing the number of quangos from 19 to 7: This would save approximately £760 million. This would also release top managerial time to improve efficiencies... Read more...
The TaxPayers' Alliance (TPA) presents the eleventh Town Hall Rich List, the only comprehensive list of its kind, with council-by-council breakdown. Praised in the past by politicians on both sides of the House of Commons, it is the go-to guide for local government executive pay deals. It details the full remuneration and many of... Read more...
The TaxPayers’ Alliance has looked at payments that the National Union of Students received from students’ unions, universities, government departments, devolved administrations and funding councils. Between July 2012 and January 2018, at least £50,145,280 was given to the NUS. Rather than focusing on students’ concerns about tuition fees or the... Read more...
238 Quango bosses in top 1% of earners The TaxPayers' Alliance has today released a 'Quangocrat Rich List', revealing details of the 238 Quango chiefs who are in the top 1% of earners. The report follows the announcement that Network Rail boss Mark Carne will step down this year after concerns about performance. CLICK HERE TO... Read more...
The South West of England has long suffered from poor transport infrastructure relative to the rest of England, with severe congestion on major roads and an often inadequate rail network. This note from the TaxPayers' Alliance argues that the money being spent on the Stonehenge tunnel could be significantly better-spent... Read more...
Seven years on from the introduction of the council tax freeze scheme in 2010 – a coalition government policy of providing grants to local authorities in England to allow them to freeze Council tax – it appears that the days of inflation busting increases are back. Although in 2010-11 there... Read more...
By Craig Mackinlay MP After several years of spending restraint, all quarters of the public sector are lobbying the chancellor for more money often claiming that there are no more savings to be made. But as this note shows, many public sector bodies are not getting value for money from... Read more...
As the debate around 'renationalising' the railways continues, and rail fares are due to increase yet again, a new report from the TaxPayers' Alliance shows that privatisation has actually been a good thing for commuters in the UK. CLICK HERE TO READ THE FULL PAPER. Read more...