Council tax hikes to worsen cost of living scandal

You might have received a letter from your council recently confirming plans to increase your council tax.

Nationally it is set to increase by £67 to an average of £1,966 from April. I spoke to the Daily Express and the Daily Mirror about the tax rise.

This is going to worsen the cost of living scandal faced by families right now. 

An increase in council tax will hit poorer households much harder than wealthier ones. It's a political choice to be allowing council tax to rise while also putting up national insurance.

Our friends at the campaign group Fairer Share have built a neat interactive map where you can find out how council tax is changing in your area.

Rishi Sunak needs to rethink. He should also implement a windfall tax on oil and gas companies like BP, who are enjoying a massive windfall while people across the country struggle to pay their energy bills.

He should close the tax loopholes open to the rich and powerful. 

In the US President Joe Biden is planning to try to tax the runaway wealth of America’s billionaires. Rishi Sunak should take inspiration from these moves.  

The Guardian reported that the President will try to bring in a new law next year for a minimum tax on the unearned wealth of America’s ultra rich elite.

It will be interesting to see if the plan gets voted through. Biden’s previous attempts to legislate for higher taxes have met with opposition from some conservative Democrats who have already stymied his domestic agenda.

In the UK, the Labour Party are increasingly talking about the need to tax wealth more. The Shadow Chancellor Rachel Reeves has made it known that she wants to shift the focus of the tax system from income to assets. 

Our research found that the public would back such a move. 

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