Key points
- Council tax should be reformed and stamp duty land tax should be abolished.
- The role of National Insurance contributions (NICs) has almost been fully eroded and in effect the UK now simply has two separate income taxes.
- NICs drive a wedge between the tax liability of employees and the self-employed – generating serious biases in the labour market.
- Reduced and zero rates of VAT cost the Treasury £64bn in foregone revenue in 2022-23.
- The cost of reaching net zero will be higher than it needs to be due to the unsuitability of environmental taxes.
The Palace of Westminster has seen better days. Wayward masonry falls with ever greater regularity forgotten corridors moulder and decades’ worth of antiquated wiring threatens to at any moment burst into flame. It is hard to imagine a more appropriate building for the UK’s tax system to...