Professor Arun Advani and CenTax make the case for tax reform at party conferences

Professor Arun Advani and CenTax make the case for tax reform at party conferences

Professor Arun Advani and the CenTaxLink opens in a new window team attended the Labour and Conservative party conferences again this year, hosting a total of four panels alongside the Chartered Institute for Taxation (CIOT), the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) and the Centre for Policy Studies (CPS).

Together with his fellow CenTax Director Dr Andy Summers (LSE), Arun made the case for structural tax reforms at the next Budget to remove distortions and boost growth, not just more tinkering with tax rates.

The CenTax team argued that the UK’s current tax system is so badly designed that there are still plenty of opportunities to both raise revenue and improve economic incentives by making sensible, research-informed changes.

CenTax at the Labour Party Conference

CenTax hosted two panels at the Labour Party Conference, one jointly with IPPR and one with the Chartered Institute of Taxation (CIOT).

The CenTax/IPPR panel featured Andy Summers, Dan Tomlinson MP in his new role as Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury, Yuan Yang MP, member of the Treasury Select Committee and Heather Stewart, Economics Editor at the Guardian. Carsten Jung from the IPPR chaired the discussion.

• Watch the discussion, which focused on how best to fund public services, here.

The Centax/CIOT panel tackled the question, ‘Can we design a tax system which taxes the wealthy and is pro-growth?’ with Arun arguing that Capital Gains Tax (CGT) reform was a prime example of the opportunity to both raise revenue and improve efficiency, by reforming the tax base, not just increasing rates.

• Read more about it here.

CenTax at the Conservative Party Conference

CenTax also hosted two panel events at the Conservative Party Conference. The first, again with CIOT, asked ‘Can we design a tax system which taxes wealth and capital fairly and is pro-growth?’

• Read the CIOT report and watch the debate hereLink opens in a new window.

The second panel was co-hosted with the Centre for Policy Studies. Arun was a member of this panel alongside Daniel Herring of CPS and Harriet Baldwin MP (previously Chair of the Treasury Committee and current Shadow Business Minister). Arun highlighted several areas of the tax system that currently distort economic activity, including the £100k ‘tax trap’ created by the withdrawal of childcare support, arguing “it's a real cost that people who are doing well and could be earning even higher incomes and paying even more tax are reducing their hours or not taking that promotion.”

• Watch the debate hereLink opens in a new window

ENDS

• A full report with policy links is available on the CenTax website: CenTax at Party Conferences| CenTax
• Main Photo: Emma Chamberlain, Barrister and Co-Chair of CIOT’s Private Client (International) Committee, Lloyd Hatton MP, Member of the House of Commons Public Accounts Committee, Nichola Ross Martin, President, CIOT (chair), Arun Advani, Director, Centre for the Analysis of Taxation (CenTax), Gemma Tetlow, Chief Economist, Institute for Government at the Labour Party Conference event.