All posts - Tax Policy Associates

A very small tax cut, barely visible on the chart

Jan 14, 2026 Analysis

The Scottish Budget – four thoughts on a tiny tax cut

The Scottish Budget was on 13 January 2026. The flagship policy is being widely reported as a cut in income tax for low earners, by increasing thresholds from 2026/27. The 20% basic rate will now start at £16,538 instead of £15,398. The 21% intermediate rate will now start at £29,527 instead of £27,492. This is […]

Samuel Leeds makes a false claim that you can avoid capital gains tax when renovating and selling property

Jan 6, 2026 Investigations

Samuel Leeds: the “property guru” and his bogus tax loopholes

Samuel Leeds is a self-proclaimed “property guru”. He makes substantial sums by using hard-sell tactics and conspiracy theories to sell expensive courses on property investment to people who can’t afford it. Mr Leeds makes an array of claims on social media about how to “pay zero tax” and “learn the tax loopholes that the rich […]

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Corporate
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Specialists in Gibraltar

“Professional company formation in a trusted whitelisted jurisdiction"

Dec 30, 2025 Analysis

Gibraltar Corporate Partners: it’s Offshore Advisory Group, rebranded

Back in June we reported on perhaps the strangest firm we’ve come across – “Offshore Advisory Group”. Offshore Advisory Group recently rebranded as Gibraltar Corporate Partners. Offshore Advisory Group promoted itself by pushing extreme political commentary, including conspiracy theories originating in Russian propaganda outlets. It used the attention this attracted to sell a tax avoidance […]

Nov 27, 2025 Analysis

The mansion tax map: where the money comes from

We’ve modelled the impact of the English “mansion tax” by analysing land registry data on every property transaction since 1995. This lets us estimate how much each postcode and Parliamentary constituency will pay. It’s an approximate and lower-bound estimate – see methodology details below. As property taxes are devolved, there’s currently no mansion tax in […]

Nov 26, 2025 Analysis

The Budget – what it says

Here’s our summary of the Budget and a quick take on what the various measures are likely to mean. (The first draft of this article appeared unusually early, thanks to the OBR accidentally publishing their assessment of the Budget about half an hour before the Chancellor started her speech.) Key elements It’s all about fiscal […]

Nov 26, 2025 Analysis

The Budget small print: six key reforms to watch

Most of the attention during and after the Budget will be on the big tax-raising measures. But there are an unusual number of important other items, which appear technical, but will impact everyone from billionaire non-doms to the poorest people in the country. None of these items are likely to be mentioned in the Budget […]

Nov 24, 2025 Analysis

Has council tax really gone up? The evidence.

Council tax is unpopular, not least to a perception that it’s relentlessly going up. But is that true? If we take inflation out of the numbers, and express everything in today’s money, has council tax actually gone up? Did council tax bills go up? Here’s the average Band D council tax for England, Wales and […]

Nov 18, 2025 Investigations

Betting on tax avoidance – is Sky Bet avoiding £55m tax per year?

ITV News has just broadcast an investigation: gambling company Sky Bet has migrated its business to Malta to avoid around £55m of tax each year. We provided technical support for the investigation, and this report goes into further detail of what precisely Sky Bet has done. Sky Bet provides a vague explanation of why they […]

Nov 12, 2025 Policy

The Budget 2025 tax calculator

This online calculator calculates your tax on employment, self-employed or partnership income, and shows how it changes under a variety of Budget proposals. It charts the marginal and effective tax rate at all income levels, and shows where you fall on that chart. Now updated for the actual Budget, with rates for 2026/27 rates and […]