A Treasury minister today refused to rule out a ‘wealth tax’ after millionaires including Gary Lineker called for a levy.Â
Chief Secretary Emma Reynolds merely said announcements would be made at the Autumn Budget as she was pressed on Left-wing demands for a raid on assets.
However, she also pointed out that the former footballer and other rich people could simply donate money to public coffers if they want to.
Prime Minister Andy Burnham has hinted at ‘wealth taxes’ in the past, and last week told Lineker’s podcast that the Government might need ‘to ask for a little more’.
The England striker turned TV commentator has joined 120 wealthy individuals signing a letter saying they should pay more tax.
One of the options most commonly floated – including by former Labour leader Lord Kinnock, who Mr Burnham has cited as an inspiration – is a 2 per cent annual charge on assets over £10million.Â
However, economists have warned that could raise far less than the tens of billions claimed by supporters and would drive money out of the UK – with the rich often having cash tied up in businesses or other investments.Â
Chief Secretary Emma Reynolds merely said announcements would be made at the Autumn Budget as she was pressed on Left-wing demands for a raid on assets
Gary Lineker has joined 120 wealthy individuals signing a letter saying they should pay more tax
Asked on Sky News whether the Government would consider a ‘wealth tax’, Ms Reynolds said:Â ‘Well, look, it’s day four of this new government, and obviously any major tax changes would be announced at a Budget.
‘I welcome the fact that people of good means are saying that they want to pay more. They can pay more.
‘There is a link on gov.uk, but look, we have to look at tax policy in the round, and we only make major tax announcements at budgets.’
Pressed if increasing capital gains tax was another possibility, Ms Reynolds said: ‘I’m not going to come on the programme today and make tax announcements.’Â
Lineker has added his name to a letter to the new PM organised by a group called Patriotic Millionaires UK, which states: ‘We are proud to pay and here to stay.’
The 65-year-old, estimated to be worth £30million after setting up one of Britain’s most successful podcast companies, said: ‘Paying your fair share is a basic British value, but so many ordinary people are already paying more than they can afford. Our richest people can do more and most want to.
‘To live up to our national values our new government must raise taxes on extreme levels of wealth for a fairer, better, more hopeful Britain.’
Other signatories to the letter include musician Brian Eno, crime writer Val McDermid and Left-wing economist Gary Stevenson.
They told Mr Burnham that they do not want higher taxes on those who go to work every day, but instead ‘on the very richest whose income is derived from the wealth they hold’.
Prime Minister Andy Burnham has hinted at ‘wealth taxes’ in the past, and last week told Lineker’s podcast that the Government might need ‘to ask for a little more’Â
The letter says that ‘extreme wealth sitting idle in the hands of a few’ should be used to reduce inequality and improve public services and concludes: ‘It’s time to tax us, the super rich.’
Tory leader Kemi Badenoch said of Lineker: ‘He’s very welcome to pay more tax. He can write a cheque to the Treasury. No one’s stopping him.
‘But right now, we are seeing the people who create jobs leaving the country…
‘If we keep taxing the people who create the jobs, who generate the growth, we’re not going to have any taxes at all.’
She added that tax rises and ‘pennies here and there’ do not increase our standard of living, and that the focus should be on ‘backing business so that they can create jobs and create growth’.
Tory MP Louie French said: ‘Virtue signallers assemble to bemoan they’re not paying enough tax, which they could pay more voluntarily but don’t.Â
‘Whilst in the real world wealth continues to flee Britain’s socialist Government.’Â
