A one-off wealth tax on millionaire couples paid at 1% a year for five years would raise £260 billion, according to the final report of the Wealth Tax Commission.

The Commission recommends that if the government chooses to raise taxes as part of its response to the Covid-19 crisis, it should implement a one-off wealth tax in preference to increasing taxes on work or spending.

The report follows intensive research by a team of over fifty international experts on tax policy and practice. The three Commissioners are academics from the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) and the University of Warwick, and a leading barrister with long experience of advising High Net Worth Individuals.

Under the design recommended by the Commission, a one-off wealth tax would be paid by any UK resident (including ‘non-doms’ and recent emigrants) with personal wealth above a set threshold,include all assets such as main homes and pension pots, as well as business and financial wealth, but minus any debts such as mortgages and be payable in instalments over five years.

Dr Arun Advani, Assistant Professor at the University of Warwick, said: “We’re often told that the only way to raise serious tax revenue is from income tax, national insurance contributions, or VAT. This simply isn’t the case, so it is a political choice where to get the money from, if and when there are tax rises.”

Emma Chamberlain, barrister at Pump Court Tax Chambers, said: “People sometimes say the super-rich won’t pay. My experience is they are happy to pay, as long as the tax is simple to operate, affordable and they don’t feel they aren’t being singled out with penal rates. The trouble is that our current way of taxing the wealthy is far too complicated leading to avoidance and resentment. We need a better way forward.”

Dr Andy Summers, Associate Professor at LSE, said: “Our report provides the first serious look at proposals for a UK wealth tax in nearly half a century. A one-off wealth tax would work, raise significant revenue, and be fairer and more efficient than the alternatives.”

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