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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Politics
Phillip Inman economics editor

How to reverse austerity? Scrap some of the tax-relief schemes worth £204bn

Shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves speaks at a press conference in central London, responding to the launch of the Conservative Party's manifest
Shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves has pledged to ramp up HMRC resources to tackle fraud and tax avoidance schemes. Photograph: Lucy North/PA

When Keir Starmer and Rachel Reeves consider the funding gap between what they want a Labour government to achieve and the money available, there are billions of pounds in unjustified tax giveaways that could be cancelled to help reverse austerity.

Successive governments have put in place tax breaks to boost economic growth that in the worst examples have proved to be a fraudsters’ charter and, even in less scandalous circumstances, are undermined by a lack of evidence about whether they achieve their aims.

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