TAP responds to the 2025 Budget: "A missed opportunity to truly reform our tax system to address long term poverty.”

London, Wednesday 26 November 2025 - Following today’s Budget announcement by the Chancellor, Taxpayers Against Poverty is expressing its deep disappointment at the measurers unveiled, calling it a “missed opportunity.”

TAP CEO, Tom Burgess said: “This is a budget that once again papers over the cracks of a tax system that is outdated, unfair and incapable of addressing the scale of inequality we face in the UK.

“This was a sticking plaster budget, with a variety of tax changes and stealth taxes, for example, freezing income tax thresholds again, to try and address the multi-billion pound black hole in the country’s finances, as a result of a flatlining economy.

“This myriad of changes was all so that the government could say it kept to its manifesto promise of not raising the basic rate of income tax, national insurance or VAT.”

TAP welcomes news that the government is ending the two-child cap on means-tested benefits, which the government says will help lift 450,000 children out of poverty by the end of the decade. But in total, an estimated 14 million people are still living in poverty in the UK – the world’s six largest economy. Many families are struggling with the rising cost of living, while extraordinary levels of wealth continue to accumulate in the hands of a small minority.

“The Chancellor talked a lot in her Budget delivery of taxing the wealthiest more,” Tom Burgess said. “But in reality, we saw tinkering at the edges and no wholesale changes which could have made a real difference to people’s lives. There are new property taxes on homes worth over £2m, but very little to help the millions who are struggling with ever-rising rents.”

TAP supports the idea of a specific wealth tax of 2% tax on assets above £10m, which it is estimated could raise up to £25bn annually to invest in health, housing, education and infrastructure and made a real difference to addressing long term poverty issues in the UK. Polling shows that the idea is consistently popular with the public, and the people most likely to pay the tax, millionaires, also support the idea.

“Overall, the budget has failed to set out a clear vision for how the tax system must evolve to meet the needs of a country where millions are struggling, while extraordinary levels of wealth continue to accumulate in the hands of a small minority,” Tom Burgess said.

“We need a fundamental shift in direction. We need a modern tax system, which ensures that the vast wealth accumulated by the few is fairly invested back into the public services that made that wealth possible — education, health, welfare, social care, and local infrastructure. That’s how we can address long term poverty issues in this country once and for all.”

 

“We cannot keep papering over the cracks. Until we tax extreme wealth more — and earned income less — we will continue to fail the millions who are struggling. It’s time for a serious change of direction."

TAP urges the Government to adopt a bold strategy that includes:

·       A genuine wealth tax

·       Aligning Capital Gains Tax with Income Tax

·       Reducing the burden of income-based taxes, including unfair council tax rates that hit renters and low-income households

·       A long-term plan to build a tax system that is fair, modern, and genuinely redistributive

TAP stands ready to work with all parties and campaigners who recognise that fair taxation is the foundation of a fair society.

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About Taxpayers Against Poverty Taxpayers against Poverty is a UK-based independent advocacy group dedicated to tackling poverty, inequality, and social injustice by promoting economic policies that have a direct effect on reducing poverty and the unnecessary financial hardship. TAP seeks to influence national and local policy with well-researched and robust evidence of hardship and promote practical policy proposals using a direct approach to decision makers and other influencers.

TAP was founded by the late Rev Paul Nicolson and is led by Tom Burgess, author of From Here to Prosperity, a new political agenda for a sustainable economy and greater social justice, which proposes taxing wealth more and income less. TAP’s sister organisation and partner is Compassion in Politics which seeks to bring more honesty, respect and compassion into political life

For media inquiries, interviews, or to support our campaigns, please contact: Taxpayers Against Poverty📧 taxpayersagainstpoverty@gmail.com🌐 www.taxpayersagainstpoverty.org.uk