A TEMPORARY tax on the super-rich could generate enough money to fix every poorly insulated home, fund free bus travel and retrain three million workers in green industries, Greenpeace revealed today.
A new report commissioned by the climate group proposes introducing an annual 2.5 per cent tax on all individual wealth above £10 million over the next five years.
This “national renewal tax” would impact less than 75,000 people — 0.1 per cent of the population — and raise up to £183 billion for the Treasury.
Even with a 42.5 per cent avoidance or evasion rate, an extremely conservative estimate, the tax would still bring in at least £130bn.
The report’s author, King’s College London economist Ben Tippet, calculated that the billions raised through the tax could be used to upgrade all 19 million homes rated EPC D or lower and provide winter energy bill support for the most vulnerable households.
Funds could also be used to make bus travel free for under-25s, cap all bus fares outside of London to £1.65 and provide passengers with unlimited train travel across Britain for just £49 a month.
Training schemes could be set up to enable the 3.2 million workers in high-carbon industries to switch to well-paid and secure new green jobs, the report said.
The tax could also support farmers with the delivery of sustainable agro-ecological farming, which would enhance food security and restore the environment.
An analysis by Oxfam found that the richest 1 per cent emit as much carbon as two-thirds of all humanity.
Greenpeace UK’s climate campaigner Georgia Whitaker said: “The oversized carbon footprint of the super-rich is a clear rationale for ensuring that they play an oversized role in fixing the crisis that they have an oversized role in creating.
“The government must use the upcoming Budget to announce a national renewal tax on the super-rich to help transform Britain into the green and prosperous country we all want to see in the fairest way possible.”
Patriotic Millionaires member Julia Davies, who wrote the report’s foreword, said: “This report highlights that a small, temporary tax on our wealth could transform the lives of millions, while tackling the greatest threat humanity has ever faced — the climate crisis — all while investing in a strong forward-facing economy with quality stable jobs for the British people.”
