Lobby group: Poorest pay the largest slice of income in tax
FAMILIES on the lowest incomes pay a higher proportion of their gross income in tax than any other the income group, the Taxpayers’ Alliance (TPA) – a lobby group – has said today.
The poorest 10 per cent of households pay 47 per cent of their gross income in taxes, the most of any income group, official figures crunched by the TPA show.
Meanwhile, the top 10 per cent of earners pay an average of £30,023 more in tax than they take in cash benefits and benefits in kind such as education and healthcare.
The high rate of tax paid by the poorest households is due mostly to VAT, council tax, fuel duties and duties on alcohol and tobacco.
The TPA advocates cutting these taxes as well as resisting calls to introduce more taxes on the highest earners.