Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of introducing a one-off wealth tax on individual wealth above £10 million.

The Government is committed to a fair tax system where those with the most contribute the most. This is why the Government has taken steps to ensure the wealthy pay their fair share by reforming the taxation of dividends, pensions, and business disposals to make the tax system fairer and more sustainable.

The Government has also ensured the wealthy pay the tax that is owed. In 2019-20, HMRC secured £2.2 billion in tax from the wealthiest individuals that would have otherwise gone unpaid.

The UK does not have a single wealth tax, but it does have several taxes on assets and wealth. The UK taxes assets and wealth across many different economic activities, including the acquisition, holding, transfer and disposal of assets, and income derived from assets.

Notably, the Wealth Tax Commission, which has no connection or link to the Government, found in 2020 that if considering Inheritance Tax, Capital Gains Tax, Stamp Duty, and Stamp Duty Land Tax, the UK is among the top of the G7 countries for wealth taxes as a percentage of total wealth.

It is also clear that the Wealth Tax Commission’s suggestion of a potential one-off wealth tax in the UK would be a complex undertaking, and the amount of revenue raised would be highly dependent on the final design of the tax.