Brits back an annual tax on the super rich to help rebuild the NHS and public services

An opinion poll by YouGov for Tax Justice UK has found overwhelming public support for an annual tax on extreme wealth ahead of this week’s Budget.

77 per cent of Brits said they would support a 1% annual wealth tax on people with more than £10 million in personal wealth; 74% said they would support a 2% annual tax on people with more than £10 million in personal wealth.

Tax Justice UK Executive Director, Robert Palmer, said: “The NHS and public services are on their knees, but the Chancellor, Jeremy Hunt, government keeps saying we can’t afford to pay workers properly.

“There is an alternative. The government could raise £22 billion alone by applying a 2% tax on the wealth of the richest people in the country.

“And this latest poll shows that this would be popular with the public. Jeremy Hunt should use the opportunity of next week’s budget to tax wealth and start rebuilding our public services.”

The full polling tables can be downloaded here.

A Tax Justice UK briefing shared with MPs ahead of the Budget sets out six wealth tax policies that could raise up to £50 billion towards rebuilding the NHS and public services.

The briefing includes a proposal for a 2% annual wealth tax on people with £10 million in assets. This policy alone could raise £22 billion.

The revenue predicted from the proposed wealth tax differs from our previous calculation as a consequence of increasing the tax rate from 1% to 2%.