Voters want action after revelations about the tax affairs of the rich and powerful

New polling by Tax Justice UK has found growing anger at tax avoidance among Conservative voters in the wake of the Pandora Papers.

​The Pandora scandal revealed how the rich and powerful, including senior politicians and political donors, continue to use opaque ownership structures to buy property and reduce their tax bills.

The poll carried out by Survation for Tax Justice UK found that:

• 80% of the public, and 83% of Conservative voters, support “tougher action” against tax avoidance in the wake of the Pandora Papers revelations.
• The proportion of Conservative voters who think tax avoidance by large companies is “morally wrong even if legal” jumped from 86% in June 2020 to 90% now. This is higher than the figure for the public at large (81% to 85%).
• The proportion of Conservative voters who think tax avoidance by individuals is “morally wrong even if legal” increased from 83% in June 2020 to 87% now. This is higher than the figure for the public at large (77% to 82%).

Voters as a whole, and Conservatives in particular, are fed up with the rich and powerful slashing their tax bills. 

It is deeply unfair to see a small minority paying less tax at the same time that the government is raising taxes on ordinary workers.

Rishi Sunak needs to show that he understands the public anger that is out there and use the budget to signal he will close the type of loopholes revealed in the scandal.

Almost 100,000 people have signed Tax Justice UK’s petition calling on the Chancellor to enact a Bill that would crack down on avoidance in his Budget.
 
Tax Justice UK is calling for Rishi Sunak to close tax loopholes and invest properly in HMRC so that everyone pays their fair share. The government should finally introduce the stalled plan to shine a light on the offshore owners of UK property and beef up the powers of Companies House.

​Survation carried out fieldwork via an online panel with 1,003 UK residents aged 18+ on 11 and 12th October 2021. The full results can be downloaded here. 

The poll is an update on a survey carried out by Survation in June 2020.