Tax is currently at the heart of UK public and political debate, at a time of growing poverty and inequality. Based on funding from the abrdn Financial Fairness Trust, NIESR are publishing a new report on how to make the tax system more progressive. It is a vital contribution to one of the key issues in British politics and policy-making.
NIESR will launch the report and hold a roundtable discussion with leading academics and key policy-makers from central government and the devolved regions. This event will be of great interest to researchers, analysts, think tankers, politicians, policy-makers and journalists.
The UK’s income and consumption taxes are progressive, yet asset and income inequality is worsening for many households across the country. This report reviews how a progressive consumption tax (PCT) could be implemented, how the transition from the current system could be taken forward and investigates the distributional consequences of introducing such a tax. It finds that a direct consumption tax can be made revenue neutral and match any degree of income inequality desired by society. A PCT, suitably designed, improves welfare by allowing better consumption smoothing and flexible labour/leisure choice over the lifetime as well as greater wealth accumulation.
The panel will include: