The myth of high tax Britain
26 April 2024

Almost without exception, any story in the media today about taxation says that we are paying more tax today in Britain than at any time in the past 70 or so years. As a consequence, all political parties are afraid to promise any increase in public expenditure to put right all the problems that we have with the NHS, crumbling schools, other infrastructure, climate change mitigation measures etc. But is it true that we are paying more tax than ever before?

Not according to OECD data as explained in an article by Will Dunn in the New Statesman. He says that an analysis carried out by the OECD and published in its most recent yearly report on wage taxation shows that, for a typical family in the UK, the net amount taken in taxes and benefits has fallen from 28.4 per cent in 2010 to 27.2 per cent in 2023. However, a single parent on two-thirds of average income has seen their net tax rise from 9.3 per cent to 17.2 per cent. The full article can be read on the
New Statesman website.