Increasing tax on the rich

THE ARGUMENTS FOR

With some hedge-funders earning more in a month than many teachers do in a lifetime, the financial services industry is a monster that is destroying the values of society. The UK can survive without Russian oligarchs and American investment bankers.

Sweden, Canada, Australia and Japan all have good growth in spite of high taxes.

When the distribution of income swings too far in favour of the wealthy, as it has since the 1970s, adjustments have to be made.

In time of recession, the government needs to finds way of raising revenue. The rich are an obvious and sensible source.

Twenty years ago, the average CEO earned 17 times the average salary of their employees. Now they earn 75 times as much.

THE ARGUMENTS AGAINST

If you raise taxes, people are disincentivised and some emigrate to countries with lower taxes. The Institute of Fiscal Studies reports that raising tax by one per cent would reduce the UK economy’s GDP by between 0.6-0.7 per cent.

Cutting taxes can often provide greater incentive to businesses. When Ireland halved capital gains tax, the revenue from it quadrupled within three years.

If you raise taxes for the rich, it becomes easier for the government to justify not lowering tax for the poor.

Only 2 per cent of people say that they pay too little tax. There simply isn’t the appetite for increased taxes.

There are countless examples of public money being wasted by our government. The less they get, the better.