Instituting a one-off wealth tax on the UK’s millionaire households could raise £260 billion to help fund public services in the wake of the pandemic, according to research supported by the Atlantic Fellows for Social and Economic Equity’s COVID-19 Rapid Response Fund.
The final report of the Wealth Tax Commission, published on 9 December, recommends that if the government chooses to raise taxes as part of its response to the COVID-19 crisis, it should implement a one-off wealth tax in preference to increasing taxes on work or spending. Read the LSE News story on the Wealth Tax Commission launch.
Dr Andy Summers, one of the three Commissioners leading the Wealth Tax Commission project, which was established in spring 2020, said: “Our report provides the first serious look at proposals for a UK wealth tax in nearly half a century. A one-off wealth tax would work, would raise significant revenue, and would be fairer and more efficient than the alternatives.”
He and his co-Commissioners, Dr Arun Advani and Emma Chamberlain, are members of the International Inequalities Institute’s Wealth, Elites and Tax Justice research theme. Members of the Wealth Tax Commission team include Louise Russell-Prywata, a Senior Atlantic Fellow for Social and Economic Equity, who authored a background paper for the Wealth Tax Commission entitled Beneficial Ownership and Wealth Taxation.
Dr Armine Ishkanian, executive director of the Atlantic Fellows for Social and Economic Equity programme and Associate Professor in the Department of Social Policy, said: “We are delighted to have supported this project through our COVID-19 Rapid Response Fund. As a programme, we are committed to drawing on the insights of academic research, innovative social change strategies and our Fellows’ own experience and expertise.
“The Wealth Tax Commission report is the first of the four projects supported by this fund to produce a substantial output. I am certain that our Fellows, who are working to address social and economic inequalities across the globe and who are keen to learn about the alternative social and economic policies that can help tackle inequalities, will be interested in reading more about this ground-breaking research on wealth tax. Furthermore, I am very happy that our Fellow Louise Russell-Prywata has been a part of the Wealth Tax Commission and contributed a valuable paper to the project,” Dr Ishkanian said.
Continuing its objective of supporting innovative inequalities-focused research, Atlantic Fellows for Social and Economic Equity has followed the COVID-19 Rapid Response Fund with the announcement this week of the Atlantic Equity Challenge. The AEQ will support teams led by LSE academics working in collaboration with practitioners, and will have a focus on the Global South.
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