As part of the long-standing Liberal Democrat commitment to fair taxation, expressed so clearly by David Laws, the party has often called for a greater emphasis on wealth taxes.
As a direct result of these calls, it is now clear that the government is considering some form of wealth taxation to help deliver another long-standing Lib Dem tax policy – giving millions of low- and middle-earners a welcome boost by raising the income tax threshold to £10,000.
The precise nature of increased taxation on wealth is a topic of much discussion. Radio 4’s Today programme carried an interesting discussion of the merits of some of the options for wealth taxes – interesting for many reasons, not least that it took place between two leading Conservative figures. You can hear the discussion starting at around the 2hrs 21minutes mark in the link below:
There are now very substantial economic and politcal arguments that favour significant shifts in how we tax wealth and income – and the biggest reason this debate is taking place at the heart of government is because Liberal Democrats are ensuring the case is heard.
With Spring conference imminent and the budget just around the corner, now is the time to keep the pressure up and to ensure that the Coalition acts decisively to make the tax system fairer.
* Prateek Buch is Director of the Social Liberal Forum and serves on the Liberal Democrat Federal Policy Committee