Coverage
December 2024
Thursday
5
5 December 2024
The Big Question: Should expats moving abroad be charged an exit fee?
Dr Andy Summers sets out what CenTax research says about an “exit tax” in The Times: Big Question series.
Sunday
1
1 December 2024
BBC Countryfile
Dr Arun Advani is one of a number of guests on BBC Countryfile. He discusses CenTax analysis of Agrigultural Property Relief as part of a wider report exploring the continued debate on the reach of the Government’s reforms.
November 2024
Monday
4
4 November 2024
Times Radio: Carole Walker
Dr Arun Advani guests on Carole Walker’s show to discuss CenTax analysis of Agrigultural Property Relief following debate on the Government’s proposed reforms and on what proportion of farms are within the scope of the changes.
“…when you look at historical data what you see is that between 2018 and 2020 there are on average 200 [estates] a year that claimed more than £1 million of agricultural relief on top of the other reliefs that were being used, and so just looking at the tax data you can see that the number of claims for this relief hasn’t been that high.”
October 2024
Wednesday
30
30 October 2024
Autumn Budget 2024: Sweeping overhaul of inheritance tax regime revealed
CenTax analysis is cited by City AM in its budget round-up.
“A recent study from the Centre for the Analysis of Taxation (CenTax) found that a quarter of estates worth over £10m paid an average rate of inheritance tax of nine per cent, while a sixth pay under four per cent.“
Wednesday
30
30 October 2024
Farmers with assets over £1mn hit by inheritance tax reforms
CenTax research into Agricultural Property Relief is cited by the FT in a report on the response of the agricultural sector to tax changes announced in the Budget.
“A recent analysis by the Centre for the Analysis of Taxation (CenTax) found that more than two-thirds of APR went to around 200 UK estates a year, with each claiming more than £1mn in relief.”
Wednesday
30
30 October 2024
Money Box Live: Budget Breakdown
Dr Arun Advani guests on the special Budget edition of BBC Radio 4 Money Box live.
Tuesday
29
29 October 2024
Private equity eyes a deal with Rachel Reeves on UK carried interest
CenTax research is cited in this FT report on carried interest.
“[The Chancellor] vowed to end a tax regime enjoyed by just 3,000 people, who paid capital gains rather than income on £3.7bn of carried interest in 2022-23, according to research by the Centre for Analysis of Taxation (CenTax). Reeves was far from the first politician to promise a fiscal crackdown on carried interest. Former US presidents Barack Obama and Donald Trump had made similar pledges without success.”
Monday
28
28 October 2024
The super rich are different to you and me. They’re full of cr*p
Tom Baldwin cites CenTax non-dom research in his opinion piece on threats to leave the country if taxes are reformed.
“More importantly, there is proper academic research showing previous cuts in tax relief for the richest succeeded in raising revenues. A study by Arun Advani, David Burgherr and Andy Summers found that barely one in 20 non-doms left Britain, and these were the ones paying the least tax.“
Saturday
26
26 October 2024
Private equity tax grab could raise nearly £1bn, study finds
City AM reports on CenTax’s carried interest research.
“Bringing the tax on profits earned by private equity bosses in line with income tax could raise up to £1bn, a fresh study from a respected think tank has found.”
Friday
25
25 October 2024
How the long arm of the British taxman is reaching for expats
Dr Andy Summers is quoted in this article in UAE-based paper, The National, discussing proposals for an exit tax.
“Charging CGT on people who leave the UK is not about punishing them for leaving,” said Dr Andy Summers, associate professor at the London School of Economics and director of CenTax. “It’s simply saying ‘you need to pay your bill on the way out’. Most of the UK’s international peers already do this, and there is no reason why the UK couldn’t as well.”
Friday
25
25 October 2024
Couples may be hit by ‘inheritance tax raid’ in Autumn Budget
The Daily Express reports on CenTax proposals to cap the “spousal exemption” on inheritance tax at £10 million.
“An academic-led think tank has proposed capping the amount that can be transferred tax-free between spouses at £10m, which would only impact the very wealthy, in order to improve the fairness of the inheritance tax system. It argues the change is necessary because the ultra-wealthy can currently more easily use the spousal exemption to dodge inheritance tax on large assets such as businesses.”
Friday
25
25 October 2024
Inheritance tax – a pre-Budget explainer
CenTax research into Agricultural Property Relief is cited in the CIOT’s pre-Budget explainer on IHT
“A recent report from the Centre for Analysis of Taxation (CenTax) found that between 2018 and 2020 around 1300 estates a year benefitted from APR but almost two thirds of that benefit went to the top 200 estates, which each claimed more than £1 million in relief, with an average estate value of £6 million. Analysing IHT and income tax records the report’s authors conclude that only a minority of those benefiting from APR in this period had identifiable trading income from farming in the five years before their death and that even among these active farmers trading income from agriculture was in most cases a minority of their income. The authors suggest that many small farms may fall within standard IHT allowances giving their owners no need to make use of APR.
Wednesday
23
23 October 2024
Autumn Budget: The growth case for hiking capital gains tax
CenTax proposals for Capital Gains Tax reform are discussed by City AM.
“One way to encourage investment, promoted by CenTax and the IFS, is to create an ‘investment allowance’, which would ensure that ‘normal’ gains on investment – the risk-free rate of return – would not be taxed.
This would be a more generous version of the inflation allowance which used to exist.”
Tuesday
22
22 October 2024
Inheritance tax receipts hit record high ahead of expected Budget reforms
CenTax proposals for Inheritance Tax reforms are discussed by City AM.
“A recent study from the Centre for the Analysis of Taxation (CenTax) found that a quarter of estates worth over £10m paid an average rate of inheritance tax of nine per cent, while a sixth pay under four per cent.“
Monday
21
21 October 2024
Bookkeepers or changemakers? Understanding the chancellor’s choices ahead of the budget
CenTax proposals for equalising capital gains tax with income tax are among the tax reform options the IPPR tested with focus groups and polling.
Monday
21
21 October 2024
Capital gains tax – a pre-Budget explainer
CenTax proposals for an exit tax are discussed in this CIOT capital gains tax explainer.
“Currently there is no CGT ‘exit charge’ on individuals who leave the UK, so someone with a large amount of capital gains accumulated while resident in the UK can leave the country and almost immediately dispose of the asset somewhere with low or no CGT. Equally if you move to the UK and dispose of an asset you are taxed by the UK on your full gain since you acquired the asset (even if most of that accrued while you were living abroad).
The proposal here (for example from CenTax) is that a charge should arise through a ‘deemed disposal’ of your assets when you leave the UK (with a revaluation having taken place when you arrived). This would mean latent gains, which have arisen whilst an asset’s owner is in the UK, are always taxed.”
Friday
18
18 October 2024
Don’t listen to the Tories – Labour is right to raise taxes
Polly Toynbee discusses CenTax research into inheritance tax in her column defending tax rises.
“Plentiful fruit ripe for the plucking includes this on Thursday from Prof Arun Advani of CenTax: business and agricultural tax reliefs are among the loopholes that let a quarter of eligible estates worth over £10m pay less than 9% in inheritance tax, while one in six pay less than 4%. It’s an extraordinary disparity, a loss to the Treasury debated on Thursday in parliament’s Westminster Hall.”
September 2024
Thurs
11
11 September 2024
The New Statesman: How to raise taxes
Research by Dr Arun Advani is cited in this New Statesman editorial.
“Research by Arun Advani, professor of economics at the University of Warwick, has shown that a person making £10m a year typically pays a lower effective tax rate than someone earning £30,000 a year.”
Thurs
11
11 September 2024
the i paper: ‘Nothing to offer’: top earners say they may quit the UK over Labour tax rises
Emily Brager invites Dr Arun Advani to respond to claims that high earners will leave the UK if CGT rises in the October Budget.
Arun Advani, associate professor of economics at the University of Warwick said: “In general, some people certainly do migrate in response to taxes, but words like exodus are maybe a bit much.”
Monday
2
2 September 2024
FT: Do the very wealthy relocate because of tax rises alone?
Dr Andy Summers is quoted in this article, discussing recent LSE research.
Andy Summers, one of the authors of the report, says: “Of the people we interviewed for this research, not one stated that they were planning to emigrate or immigrate for tax reasons. In fact, the vast majority of interviewees were clear that they would never consider moving for tax reasons.”
August 2024
Wed
28
28 August 2024
FT: Which taxes can the UK government raise in the Autumn Budget?
Dr Arun Advani contributes to this forward look at the Chancellor’s options for the Budget:
Arun Advani, associate professor at Warwick university, said reform of CGT — which is paid on the profit from the sale of assets ranging from shares to second homes — was “the biggest and most likely thing they can do to raise some serious money”.
Be the first to hear . . .
The Centre for the Analysis of Taxation (CenTax) is a new centre dedicated to advancing knowledge and understanding of taxation, and making the evidence-informed case for reform to policymakers and the public. CenTax is led by Dr Arun Advani (Warwick) and Dr Andy Summers (LSE). CenTax is supported by core funding from the abrdn Financial Fairness Trust and Thirty Percy.