Longer-term, in the context of a much more decentralised England, we explore:
- A regional progressive income tax
- Replacing local property taxes with a land value tax
Read the full report here: re-state.co.uk/publications...
And full report here:
re-state.co.uk/publications...
Our latest report 'Taxing for take-off: a new plan for fiscal devolution' was covered by @room151.co.uk.
The report argues that the Treasury’s approach to fiscal devolution will be one of the defining tests of the Government’s wider devolution agenda.
www.room151.co.uk/funding/mayo...
More on why I think this is v important on the @re-state.bsky.social Substack this morn:
restate.substack.com/p/the-fiscal...
England has long been outlier when it comes to tax centralisation. Central government in the UK raises over 90 per cent of overall revenues compared to an average of 53.2 per cent across OECD countrie...
As a starting point, we recommend:
- Retention of a portion of income tax to replace Integrated Settlements
- Extension of 100% business rates growth retention
- An equalisation mechanism that balances reward with fairness to areas with different starting points
- Strengthened local accountability
This is holding back the English devolution agenda. We need tax as well as spend decentralisation.
Strategic authorities have been tasked with the economic development of England's regions. But without some form of revenue retention, they do not share directly in the fruits of their success.
The UK is highly fiscally centralised.
Central government raises more than 90 per cent of all tax revenues, compared to an OECD average of 53.2 per cent.
We are at the bottom of the G7 for the share of national taxes collected at subnational level.
However well they are doing, they remain almost entirely reliant on funding from Whitehall to exist
Unless this shifts then the artificial silos that structure Whitehall will continue to be passed down to the regional and local level – limiting the potential for devolution to be truly place-based
Very excited to see our big new report "Taxing for for take-off" out in the world today, a day on which nothing else is happening!
We've been working away on this for a while - it sets out a substantive plan for fiscal devolution in England covering both immediate reforms and long-term goals.
