Wealth tax on ten richest Scots could lift 30,000 out of poverty, report suggests

A wealth tax could raise enough cash to lift 30,000 children in Scotland out of poverty from just ten families, a report has found.

A tax of 2% levied against those with assets worth £10m or more could bring in £492m a year from Scotland’s ten richest families, the research found.

The report, prepared by the Scottish Trades Union Congress (STUC) for campaign group Tax Justice Scotland, said this would be enough to recruit 11,600 newly qualified teachers or more than 12,900 newly qualified nurses.

Alternatively, it could provide £1,000 to every home in Scotland in extreme fuel poverty, or would allow for the Scottish child payment to be doubled – a move which the report said would “lift more than 30,000 children out of poverty”.

STUC general secretary Roz Foyer said the report “lays bare the shocking concentration of wealth in Scotland”.

She added: “While families across the country are struggling to pay their bills, a handful of the super-rich are lining their pockets with more and more money.”

Research by YouGov, carried out in March, found almost four out of five Scots (79%) would rather tax the very richest than have cuts to public spending.

The new STUC research found Scotland’s two richest families, who between them are worth more than £14bn, have more than almost a quarter (24%) of the population with the least wealth, whose combined worth is said to be £13.5bn.

“To put this another way, two families have more wealth than 1.3 million people,” the report states.

According to the latest Sunday Times Rich List, Anders Holch Povlsen, a Dane who is the largest shareholder in the online clothing retailer Asos, and who owns more than 220,000 acres of land across the country, remains Scotland’s richest man, with a net worth of more than £7.7bn.

Glenn Gordon and family, the owners of spirits company William Grant and Sons, came second on the list, with wealth reported to be in excess of £6.7bn.

The STUC report adds that Scotland’s ten richest families – who have a combined wealth of £24.7bn – are between them wealthier than the poorest 28% of the country, who are worth £24.5bn.

Looking at the impact of a new tax on these wealthiest Scots, it states: “If a new annual wealth tax of 2% was applied to all those with assets worth more than £10m, it could raise up to an estimated £492m extra per year from Scotland’s ten richest families alone.

“To illustrate the potential impact of these extra tax revenues, we estimate they could fund: more than 11,600 newly qualified teachers, more than 12,900 newly qualified nurses, more than 13,500 new firefighters, more than 15,000 new civil servants, or more than 17,000 home care workers.

“Alternatively, they could fund an estimated 1,000 electric double-decker buses from Alexander Dennis, free bus travel across Scotland, a payment of £1,000 to every home in Scotland in extreme fuel poverty, or doubling the Scottish child payment to lift more than 30,000 children out of poverty.”

Ms Foyer said the research shows “fairly taxing this eye-watering wealth” could “mean more 12,000 new nurses in hospitals, 11,000 more teachers in classrooms”, or lifting more than 30,000 children out of poverty.

She said: “Politicians across the UK should be in no doubt that it’s their dithering and delay that is deepening the crisis within our communities and public services.

“The powers to make a radical change to our tax system are at their disposal. The excuses must end. Scotland can work for everyone, not just the richest few. It’s time that work was started without equivocation.”

The report calls for all political parties in Scotland to “actively champion action by the UK Government to better tax wealth”.

But it also said the Scottish Government should “act to better tax property wealth”, urging Holyrood ministers to scrap the “regressive and outdated council tax and replace it with a proportional property tax”.

Jamie Livingstone, head of Oxfam Scotland and a member of Tax Justice Scotland, said: “Our tax system can do so much more to help build the country the people of Scotland want, but right now it’s stacked in favour of the wealthy.

“It’s time to fix the system, and that must include better taxing wealth right across the UK and, in Scotland, finally replacing the outdated council tax.

“With the Scottish election fast approaching, all political parties have a clear choice: defend a broken system that protects the richest while short-changing critical priorities or back a fairer one that delivers a fairer, greener and more prosperous country for all of us.”

The Scottish Government has been contacted for comment.