Is it possible to tax the super-rich?

Summers, Andy ORCID: 0000-0002-4978-7743 (2022) Is it possible to tax the super-rich? LSE Public Policy Review, 2 (4). ISSN 2633-4046

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• https://ppr.lse.ac.uk/articles/10.31389/...

Abstract

A major constraint on progressive tax reform is that somehow, the richest always seem to find ways not to pay. Is this inevitable? Focusing on the UK context, I begin by reviewing two past attempts to raise taxes on those at the top – the changes to the top rate and dividend rates of income tax, and reforms to ‘non-dom’ tax status – and explore whether and why these policies failed. I then discuss three key policy areas that must be addressed to successfully increase taxes on the super-rich: capital taxes (on capital gains, inheritances and gifts), the challenges posed by international mobility of assets and individuals, and trusts. Reform of these areas could directly raise additional revenue from the super-rich and would also provide a backstop needed to support more familiar levers such as increasing the top income tax rate

Item Type:	Article
Additional Information:	© 2022 The Author
Divisions:	Law
Subjects:	H Social Sciences > HB Economic Theory K Law
JEL classification:	H - Public Economics > H2 - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue > H20 - General D - Microeconomics > D3 - Distribution > D31 - Personal Income, Wealth, and Their Distributions
Date Deposited:	09 Feb 2024 12:12
Last Modified:	12 Dec 2024 04:03
URI:	http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/id/eprint/121990

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