The political barriers to radical tax reform

Want more public services, help with the cost of living, a simplified tax system and a reduction in the public sector deficit? It sounds like a Reform manifesto, but what I’m referring to is a detailed, radical and costed programme published by Prosperity 2030, a research institute at University College London. It got some publicity when its publication was accompanied by an Open Letter signed by, among others. Jim O’Neill, who is advising our new PM. One of the core aspects of the programme is an extension of Universal Services, involving free local bus travel for all coupled with additional bus services, an end to the BBC TV licence, universal free school meals and much more, designed in part to replace the need for benefits with direct provision. On the tax side Income Tax, employee National Insurance, Capital Gains Tax, Dividend Tax, and Inheritance Tax are rolled into one, with a single schedule applied to all income (including benefit income and gifts), whatever its source. (I…