Wealth Transfer – bottom to top
The richest 1,000 people in the United Kingdom have more wealth (£576 billion) than the poorest 40% of households (£496 billion). In 2016 they saw their wealth increase by a staggering £28.508 billion. The entire budget of the Department of Transport was £29 billion and Department of Personal Social Care was £30 billion. Property, Interest & Dividends are the main sources of unearned incomes.
Equality Trust – Wealth Tracker 2016
Institute of Fiscal Studies: The Distribution of Household wealth in the UK
Wealth Taxation for the UK – Tax Justice.
As stated by Richard Murphy at Tax Research “There are wide range of reasons for charging additional tax on those with wealth or income from investments. These include:
- Ending the prejudice within the tax system against those who work for a living;
- Ending the incentive to avoid tax that so many people who use limited companies to offer their services, often in competition with those on PAYE, exploit at present;
- Increasing the effective rate of tax for those on higher incomes so that we have a more progressive tax system as moves towards income equality demands;
- Ensuring that those with the greatest capacity to pay do so;
- Tackling the wealth gap;
- Providing the resources required to provide public services to those most in need in our communities.
