The huge amount of tax paid by the ‘richest’ just shows up inequality in the UK – doesn’t it?

Certain elements in the media are talking up fears that the UK is currently undergoing an exodus of the super-rich.

Apparently they’re scared that a Labour government will tax away some of the huge wealth they have accumulated under Tory rule, so they are grabbing their diamonds and pearls and scarpering like a gang of thieves.

It’s not a pretty picture.

Buy Cruel Britannia in print here. Buy the Cruel Britannia ebook here. Or just click on the image!

Yes, the 60 wealthiest individuals paying £3 billion a year in income tax alone may seem like a lot but, without context, the figure is meaningless.

How much money comes to them every year, in both earned and unearned wealth? How much tax do they avoid paying, if any?

Are they trying to blackmail the government into abandoning any planned tax hikes on the rich?

If so, I would urge the government to stand its ground.

The current tax situation means the richest in society have been able to accumulate huge amounts of wealth, which they have then used to buy up assets – property and businesses – in order to accumulate even more (unearned) wealth.

This has been squeezing people on lower incomes out of being able to afford such things, meaning wealth is being concentrated in a small group of people – and drained from everybody else.

If the UK’s tax regime is reformed and these people go, the rest of us will be able to enjoy redistributed assets and the improved equality that will come with them.

In any case – and perhaps the media types writing these stories haven’t thought about this…

People can leave the UK but their assets here cannot and they can still be taxed on any income that they receive from those assets; leaving should not make any difference to government policy.

Source: Huge amount of tax paid by the ‘richest’ in the UK revealed ahead of Autumn Budget