Over 95% of Britons want a more progressive tax system

From The Equality Trust, in a report on the United Kingdom:

“Public support for a more progressive tax system is high. Over eight in ten (82%) believe that households in the highest 10% income group should pay a greater proportion of their income in tax than those in the bottom 10%. An even greater majority (96%) would like the tax system to be more progressive than it currently is.”

Ninety six percent: a number to make your eyes water. Read the report, or read this summary in The Guardian.

See also this recent report from the Equality Trust looking at top tax rates in the UK. They find, among other things, that

“There is little or no relationship between tax rates and economic growth.  There is only a proven relationship in the case of very high taxes of above 80%”

As we have noted before, many times. And it’s hardly surprising that this is so, given that tax is not a cost to an economy but a transfer within it, from one productive sector to another.