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A wealth tax could raise enough cash to lift 30,000 children from just 10 families out of poverty in Scotland, a report has found.
The research found that a 2% tax on people with wealth of £10 million or more could bring in £492 million a year from Scotland’s 10 richest families.
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 Scottish household in extreme fuel poverty, or allow the Scottish child payment to be doubled – a move which the report says would lift “more than 30,000 children out of poverty”.
STUC general secretary Rose Foer said the report “highlights the shocking concentration of wealth in Scotland”.
He added: “While families across the country struggle to pay their bills, a handful of ultra-rich people are lining their pockets with more and more money.”
Research By YouGovconducted in March, nearly four out of five were found Scots (79%) would prefer to tax the richest people rather than cut public spending.
New STUC research finds that Scotland’s two richest families, who have a combined wealth of more than £14 billion, have the least wealth, with almost a quarter (24%) of the population said to have a combined wealth of £13.5 billion.
“In other words, two families own more wealth than 1.3 million people,” the report said.
Anders Holch Povlsen, a Dane who is the largest shareholder in 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 £7.7 billion, according to the latest Sunday Times Rich List.
Glen Gordon and family, owners of spirits company William Grant & Sons, came second on the list, with a fortune reported at more than £6.7 billion.
The STUC report said Scotland’s 10 richest families – with a combined wealth of £24.7bn – are richer than the poorest 28% of the country, who are worth £24.5bn.
Looking at the impact of the new tax on these wealthiest Scots, it said: “If a new annual wealth tax of 2% was implemented on everyone with a wealth of more than £10 million, it could raise an additional £492 million per year from the 10 richest families in Scotland alone.
“To illustrate the potential impact of these additional tax revenues, we estimate that they could finance: 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 buy an estimated 1,000 electric double-decker buses from Alexander Dennis, free bus travel across Scotland, a £1,000 payment to every Scottish household in extreme fuel poverty, or doubling the Scottish Child Payment to lift more than 30,000 children out of poverty.”
Ms Foer said the research showed that “fairly taxing this wonderful wealth” could mean “more than 12,000 new nurses in hospitals, more than 11,000 teachers in classrooms” or lifting more than 30,000 children out of poverty.
He said: “Politicians across the UK should be in no doubt that it is their negligence and delay that is deepening the crisis within our communities and public services.
“They have the powers to overhaul our tax system. The excuses must end. Scotland can work for everyone, not just the richest few. Now is the time to get the job done without any strings attached.”
The report calls on all political parties in Scotland to “actively support UK Government action to better tax wealth”.
but also said scottish government “Work should be done to impose better taxes on wealth,” he urged. holyrood Ministers must “abolish the regressive and outdated council tax and replace it with a proportional property tax”.
Jamie Livingstone, head of Oxfam Scotland and member of Tax Justice Scotland, said: “Our tax system could do a lot to make Scotland the country we want, but right now it favors the rich.
“It is time to fix the system, and this must include better taxation across the UK and in Scotland, ultimately replacing the outdated council tax.
“With the Scottish elections fast approaching, all political parties have a clear choice: defend a broken system that protects the richest while undermining vital priorities or support a fairer system that delivers a fairer, greener and more prosperous country for us all.”
Finance Secretary Shona Robison said the Scottish Government is “committed to exploring what wealth taxation might look like for Scotland in our tax strategy, and we welcome this report as a contribution to the discussion”.
But he added: “Without the full powers of an independent nation the option to pursue wealth taxation is incredibly limited.
“We support progressive taxation, as can be demonstrated in our approach to income tax, where the highest earners contribute slightly more, while the majority of income taxpayers in Scotland pay less than anywhere else in the UK.
“Our taxation choices enable us to deliver policies not available anywhere else in the UK, including the game-changing Scottish Child Payment, which is projected to benefit families with more than 330,000 children in 2025-26.
“We are determined to move forward, which is why it is the Scottish Government that is scrapping the two-child limit in Scotland in 2026.”