Posts in "Policy"
Chart showing France has far more taxes than any other developed country; Germany has the least of any large country; the UK is in the middle
May 30, 2026 Policy

The UK has 90 different taxes. France has 348. Germany has 60. Why?

The UK has 90 different taxes – more than at any time since 1834. France, on the other hand, has 348. But Germany, which has overall levels of tax closer to France than the UK, has only 60. Why is that? And are there lessons for the UK? This is the third in a series. […]
A History of Tax
May 29, 2026 Policy

Why does Britain have more taxes than at any time since 1834?

Tax in the UK is the highest it’s been since 1945. That’s well understood – but another trend has been largely missed: the number of taxes in the UK is at its highest since the end of the Napoleonic Wars. Back then, the Government was fighting France and building the modern state. Afterwards, and over […]
Reform UK's overtime cut is bottom of the list of tax cuts, in "bang for the buck" terms
May 25, 2026 Policy

Ten better tax cuts than Reform’s £14bn overtime gimmick

Reform UK’s “hard work bonus” sounds simple: no income tax on overtime above a 40-hour week for workers earning under £75,000. But the likely result is modest extra output, massive relabelling of existing hours as “overtime”, and a bill far above Reform’s £5bn estimate. Our central estimate of the cost is £14bn. For that money […]
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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 […]
= Qa HOME WORLD UK COMPANIES TECH MARKETS CLIMATE OPINION LEX WORK& CAREERS LIFE& ARTS HTS! PINANCIAL TIMES | subscribe TM FT Digital Edition Portfolio UK tax + AddtomyFT Rachel Reeves plans Budget tax raid on expensive homes UK chancellor predicted to plump for ‘least worst option’ of creating higher council tax bands in England
Nov 2, 2025 Policy

Council tax on ‘expensive homes’ – but most of the money comes from the not-so-rich

The FT has reported that Rachel Reeves is planning a “Budget tax raid on the owners of expensive homes”, expected to raise around £4bn. But less than a 20% of that revenue comes from homes in the top council tax band, while roughly 80% comes from the much larger group of homes in the second-highest […]
= Q THE sa 4sTIMES Home UK World Comment Life&Style Business & Money Times+ My account Vv Steven Swinford, Political Editor Tuesday October 21 2025, 6.00pm, The Times Budget Economics MK VIDEO Tax raid on solicitors and GPs as Rachel Reeves targets wealthy The chancellor considers the national insurance exemptions offered by limited liability partnerships to be unfair, and will use her budget to change the rules exEW S
Oct 21, 2025 Policy

The £2bn lawyer tax – should Rachel Reeves tax LLPs?

Doctors, lawyers, accountants, fund managers, and other high earning professionals are often members of partnerships and LLPs. They’re not employees – and so there’s no 15% employer national insurance. This creates a big tax saving. The Times is reporting that Rachel Reeves is considering changing this – and that it could raise £2bn. UPDATE evening […]
model houses
Aug 23, 2025 Infographics • Policy

Council tax on expensive homes: could the Budget raise £1bn+?

The Government needs money. Council tax is regressive – high-value properties pay a trifling sum in comparison with their value. It must be tempting for Rachel Reeves to solve both problems in one go by raising council tax on high-value properties. We’ve created an interactive calculator that shows how this could be done, and how […]
a tractor working a field
Aug 15, 2025 Policy

A fair solution to inheritance tax on farms and small businesses

There has been a huge amount of controversy over the inheritance tax changes in last year’s Budget. They raised £500m, but hit some small farms and small businesses unfairly – whilst not stopping much existing inheritance tax avoidance. There’s a new proposal from CenTax which seems to do the impossible: protect small farms and businesses, […]
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Nov 24, 2024 Policy

How to stop IHT avoidance but protect farmers

New data suggests that one third of the farm estates affected by the Budget changes aren’t owned by farmers – they’re held by investors for tax planning purposes. This suggests the Budget proposal doesn’t go far enough to stop avoidance, but goes too far in how it applies to actual farms. There’s a better approach […]

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