Millionaires are ready to pay more – this Budget should let us

Phil White is an engineer, consultant and member of Patriotic Millionaires UK

Before it’s even happened, this week’s Budget is being labelled low-key and boring. After three months of big promises under Andy Burnham’s new leadership, the mood around the country’s biggest fiscal event feels remarkably flat. 

Now is not the time to slow down. There is no doubt that people and small businesses need breathing space from the cost-of-living crisis and I would welcome a Budget that delivers on that – but crumbs of support are not going to fix this country long-term. If the Prime Minister and the Chancellor are serious about giving people a better future, they need our country to be built on a fair, thriving and sustainable economy, with a tax system that makes sure those who can most afford to, pay their fair share. But right now taxes are the opposite of this, asking too much of small businesses and working people, and too little of the very richest, like me.

Taxing wealth properly isn’t radical or even controversial, in fact, it is widely supported. Three quarters of UK millionaires polled said that to ensure the UK is a place they are proud to live in, they would be willing to pay more tax. And 75% of the public support a 2% tax on wealth over £10 million.

We should all feel hope and pride about the country we live in. But when income from work is taxed higher than income from wealth, it’s no wonder the public feel ripped off. The Chancellor has the opportunity to unlock an economy that works for everybody, by delivering on the Prime Minister’s pledge to draw a line under trickle down economics once and for all. 

Equalising Capital Gains Tax with Income Tax and closing loopholes should be step one. Not only would it level the playing field, by taxing wealth like work, this reform would raise £19.7bn for our country by 2029-30 according to CenTax’s latest estimate. The Chancellor should also forge a clear pathway towards a 2% annual wealth tax on assets over £10 million, raising around £24 billion a year and affecting only the very wealthiest 0.04% of the UK’s population. 

This is about so much more than just raising revenues – it’s about tackling the deep-rooted inequality which is holding this country back and building a more equal future for everyone. 

The Prime Minister knows the tax system is broken – and has said so himself. Almost 12 months ago, ahead of the 2025 Autumn Budget, Patriotic Millionaires UK toured the country on our “tax us the super-rich” campaign bus, urging the Chancellor to tax our wealth. When we stopped in Manchester, Andy Burnham, then Mayor of Greater Manchester, came to meet us. In an interview, he told us: “In this country we overtax people’s work and we undertax wealth.” Now he leads our country and has the power to fix it. That fix to our economy should start this week, with this Budget.