Britain’s super-rich are paying less in taxes than their cleaners, according to official figures.
The latest release from the Office for National Statistics shows the poorest ten per cent of households fork out 42 per cent of their income in taxes – including VAT and council tax.
Conversely, the richest ten per cent pay 34.3 per cent – according to analysis by the Equality Trust.
Today’s figures also show that average income for the richest fifth of households is £84,700 – more than 12 times greater than the poorest fifth (£7,200).
Dr. Wanda Wyporska, Executive Director of The Equality Trust, said: “When the super-rich are paying less in taxes than their cleaners, you know something has gone disastrously wrong with our broken, regressive tax system.
“Time after time we see sensible reforms attacked and rejected in favour of tax cuts for billionaires. These do nothing for ordinary people struggling to keep a roof over their head.
“If political parties are serious about representing working people, they need to shift the burden of tax to those with the broadest shoulders. Only then will we see a fairer and more equal society.”
The report also revealed that council tax and VAT hit the lowest earners particularly hard, with the poorest ten per cent of households paying seven per cent of their gross income in council tax, compared to just 1.5 per cent for the richest.
For VAT, the poorest households fork out 12.5 per cent of their gross income – whereas that tax only accounts for five per cent of outgoings for the richest.
Labour’s Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell said: “The Tories promised when they were first elected that they would have balanced the books by 2015, but now they cannot promise to do it by 2020, and instead the past year has seen both borrowing and debt has increased.
“Today’s figures reveal that the national debt has gone up by £123 billion since March last year, and with a Tory Chancellor who won’t rule out raising taxes on low and middle earners, and has no plan to deal with inflation rising ahead of earnings, it is clear the Tories want the rest of us to pay for their mistakes.”
