Research reveals poorest pay biggest share of income in tax
THE POOREST face the biggest tax burden in the UK, a lobby group said today.
Families on the lowest incomes pay 45 per cent of their gross income in tax – more than any other income group, according to analysis from the TaxPayers’ Alliance.
Most of this was down to VAT, council tax, fuel duties and levies on alcohol and tobacco – so-called sin taxes.
People at the peak of the earnings ladder are also paying too much, the TPA said, with the top 3,000 earners in the UK paying more income tax than the bottom nine million.
“This analysis shows how pernicious our tax burden has become.
“Not only does the tax system hit the poorest hardest, but those at the top are already contributing far more than anybody could reasonably describe as their ‘fair share’,” said TPA chief executive Jonathan Isaby.
He wants the government to cut VAT, but increase the number of products it is on, as well as slash sin taxes, which hit the poorest hardest.
Isaby also wants to see a hike in the national insurance threshold, with a view to abolishing the tax.