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Two new studies have heavily criticised the tax situation at home and worldwide.
British taxpayers have seen a rise of more than 50% in their tax bills over the past ten years, with the average household now paying £20,700 a year, according to a report from the Taxpayers' Alliance (TPA).
The TPA, a campaign group that supports lower taxes, says members of the public have fallen victim to 'vast increases in a range of up-front taxes, stealth taxes and cunning measures such as fiscal drag'.
This, adds the new paper, amounts to 'the Great British taxpayer rip-off' — a situation in which people are being 'made to pay additional fees and charges for what used to be “free” public services'.
For instance, claims the TPA, the total stamp duty collected over the past decade has increased 'a staggering' 314%, while fiscal drag has raised £80 billion, including £14 billion in the last year alone.
The report's author, former Treasury economist, Mike Denham, said: 'The Government has used every trick in the book to drive up the tax burden, and ordinary families are paying a heavy price.
'People are increasingly beset by record levels of taxation and growing service charges, but there has been no improvement in services in return. We find ourselves paying more and more for less and less. With rocky economic times ahead, this rate of taxation simply cannot be sustained'.
Meanwhile, another new study has claimed that tax avoidance and evasion by international corporations and the world's super-rich individuals will be responsible for the death of 5.6 million young children between 2000 and 2015 — about 1,000 every day.
A global clampdown on tax-dodging - both legal and illegal - could save the lives of 35,000 under-fives in the developing world every year, according to the Christian Aid report, which says that the loss of corporate taxes to the area is currently running at an annual £80 billion.
The paper goes on to criticise the look-the-other-way attitude of tax havens and accuses major accountancy companies of encouraging their clients to take advantage such places.
