Work for the Dole is a proposal to fix welfare dependency based around the idea that welfare reform must involve more than numeracy and literacy tests in order to ensure those stuck on welfare have a better chance of gaining employment. To read the full report, click here Read more...
Britain’s contribution to the EU gets bigger every year. That means bigger tax bills for families across the country and too much of the money is wasted. Brussels also makes life difficult for British businesses with draconian regulations. We deserve a better deal. Click here for the factbook. Read more...
As millions of British families return from their holidays, new research from the TaxPayers’ Alliance (TPA) reveals just how much tax they have to pay in order to enjoy a well-earned break. Thanks to the highest taxes on flights in the world and other taxes on common holiday purchases, the... Read more...
Three in ten homes are to suffer from a Stamp Duty hike by 2017, whilst a third of potential home buyers will pay over £7,500 in Stamp Duty by 2018. Read more...
The Tax Payers’ Alliance believes that in the long term Stamp Duty Land Tax should be abolished. However reforms are also possible that would ease the burden on families with a limited, or even positive, impact on overall tax receipts. In new research based on the relationship between the tax... Read more...
Expected rising property prices over the next five years by Savills Research mean that many more exempt homes will be subject to Stamp Duty when they are sold and many homes which are already subject to the charge will face an even higher bill. While all homes which rise in... Read more...
While home-buyers in London and the South East are hardest hit, more people across the country are being hit by Stamp Duty at the 3 per cent rate, which acts as a barrier both for an increasing number of first-time buyers, as well as many hard-working families wanting to buy... Read more...
Writing in today’s Daily Telegraph Matthew Sinclair argues that our complicated capital tax system needs reform. His article follows the release of our new research How to fix corporate taxes which is part of a set of papers that demonstrate the steps needed to introduce key recommendations from the 2020 Tax Commission final report, The Single Income... Read more...
For the seventh consecutive year, the TaxPayers’ Alliance (TPA) has compiled the most comprehensive list of council employees in the UK whose total annual remuneration exceeds £100,000. This year’s Town Hall Rich List covers the 2010-11 and 2011-12 financial years, the most recent full years for which data is available. Town Hall Rich... Read more...
The TaxPayers' Alliance reveals today that a massive £1.1 billion was paid last year in Business Rates on empty properties, a rise of 19 per cent between 2009-10 and 2011-12. Click here to read the full report Read more...
The TaxPayers’ Alliance can today reveal that there are 28,754 local authority staff paid over £50,000 a year, which cost taxpayers £1.9 billion in 2011-12. The cost of paying these staff is the equivalent of 7.5 per cent of Council Tax receipts. This bill is down 12.5 per cent from last year but 118 councils increased the amount spent... Read more...
For the first time, the TaxPayers’ Alliance can reveal the number of different tax-raising and tax-cutting measures since the 2010 election that the Coalition Government has implemented or is planning to implement during this Parliament. To read the full report, click here Read more...
With spending restraint needed across the board, it is vital that police forces improve their efficiency. Crime prevention does not have to suffer. This report reveals figures for each police force – gathered using data from Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary – and compares how many police officers and Police... Read more...
The TaxPayers’ Alliance (TPA) can today reveal that the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) has spent over £1.5 million on 3,496 flights over the last two and half years. Of these trips, 362 were business class at a cost of nearly £600,000. The destinations of these flights include far-flung locations from Johannesburg to Jakarta while DECC staff... Read more...
Earlier this month Cabinet Office Minister Francis Maude announced plans to reduce the amount of facility time taken in the civil service. This will cut the subsidy that unions receive at taxpayers’ expense. There would still be a substantial subsidy though, and the reforms do not yet apply to the... Read more...
Government departments could have saved a potential £112 million on their estates bill if all departments were to use space as well as the most efficient departments. Read more...
Public sector organisations have to make cuts to their staff numbers in order to ease the pressure on the public finances. However, some are still hiring. This research note reveals TaxPayer's Alliance research showing that Ofcom, the communications quango, has spent £9.4 million on redundancies over the last five years at the... Read more...
Despite much vaunted efficiency drives across Whitehall, departments continue to pay vastly differing prices for basic items such as A4 paper and energy. Read more...
This briefing - by barrister Francis Hoar, a member of Field Court Chambers in Gray’s Inn - examines whether “many public sector employers have...approached ‘facility’ time in the manner envisaged by industrial relations law.” Read more...
We reveal for the first time the massive difference in basic allowances paid to councillors in local authorities around the UK. Full data for each local authority can be found here. Read more...
With modern communications, many long distance journeys are now increasingly unnecessary. Local authorities facing significant pressure on their finances should be working to cut their travel costs and avoiding all unnecessary flights. Despite that, new research by the TaxPayers’ Alliance can reveal that councils in the North East have recently spent hundreds of... Read more...
The TaxPayers' Alliance (TPA) can today reveal for the first time a substantial rise>in the number of former council staff drawing pensions compared to the number in work and paying into the Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS). The new research also reveals that when the one million deferred members of the scheme... Read more...
Many major environmentalist groups have received substantial subsidies from the European Union since 1997 under the LIFE+ programme. Read more...
The 2020 Tax Commission is a joint project between the TaxPayers’ Alliance (TPA), Britain’s independent grassroots campaign for lower taxes, and the Institute of Directors (IoD) Europe's largest membership organisation for business leaders. The Commission's final report calls for radical but realistic reform of our tax system, that is vital to kick start growth.... Read more...