The rich are happy to pay more, the broadest shoulders should bear the heaviest burden, and the climate emergency means more money is urgently needed to save the planet. We keep being told that the better off are more than willing to contribute plenty to the government if only they were asked.
Groups such as Patriotic Millionaires UK have campaigned for wealth levies, even projecting light shows reading ‘Tax our wealth’ onto the Bank of England to make their point. Meanwhile billionaires such as Sir Jim Ratcliffe and John Caudwell backed Labour at the last election, presumably comfortable with their plans to put up taxes for the better off.
In reality, no one believes that giving more money to the government actually achieves anything
And yet, here is something odd. When they have the opportunity to do so at little cost to themselves, it is remarkable how few people choose to give their money to the government.
A scheme run by the UK debt management office (DMO) exists for anyone who wants to donate ‘patriotic gifts’ to the country. This allows anyone to donate money to the government, either as a one-off or else in their will. So presumably all those patriotic billionaires have been leading by example, and making huge donations to the Treasury? After all, they claim to be happy to hand over their money, and a few hundred extra million pounds might make a start on improving education, or reducing poverty.
The trouble is, according to the latest update from the DMO, there is not exactly a flood of money coming in. In the latest financial year, only six donations were made, reaching a grand total of £698,687. And even that was a ten-year high, falling just short of the £799,000 received in 2013-14. Of that, the vast bulk was left in people’s wills, with the underwhelming amount of £1,478 contributed via lifetime gifts.
That surely tells us something. We have all met lots of people who say they would be happy to pay more in tax for better public services, and a more equal society. Polls consistently say the same thing. And yet, in reality, no one really believes that giving more money to the government actually achieves anything. There is nothing stopping them giving their money to the state right now if they wanted to. Instead, they are happy to virtue-signal, and lecture everyone else – with almost no one actually volunteering any extra cash.
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