The Institute for Fiscal Studies has warned that the government needs to find £25bn in tax rises to fix public services and avoid austerity (Report, 10 October). To find this money, the chancellor should draw on the 10 progressive tax reforms identified by Tax Justice UK and Patriotic Millionaires UK, which could raise up to £60bn a year. There is plenty of money out there: the richest 10% of households own 57% of wealth in the UK. At the same time, some of the wealthiest, such as Rishi Sunak, pay very low effective tax rates.
Our tax reforms, like a 2% wealth tax on the very richest (only 0.04% of the population), ask those with the broadest shoulders to contribute a fairer share. Taxing the super-rich more can give the UK the tools to build a better, stronger boat for everyone, instead of always looking for the bucket to bail out the water. Key services we all rely on are crying out for funding that enables them to become world-class, rather than hanging on by a thread.
Robert Palmer
Executive director, Tax Justice UK
• It has been estimated that more than £1tn will transfer down the generations in the next five years in the UK, and about £5tn between now and 2050. If a proportion of the inheritance tax (IHT) can be collected now, it could be invested in public infrastructure and stimulate growth.
One possibility is to introduce a gift tax on large gifts at a rate set significantly lower than the 40% IHT rate and with the gift being immediately exempt from IHT. If the owners of £5tn decided to give their heirs even 5% of their wealth in the next year it would transfer £250bn to a younger generation who might spend a lot of it, boosting the economy, and a 10% gift tax would fill the budget “black hole”.
Martyn Thomas
Tunbridge Wells, Kent
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