With soaring public debt and an economic recession, now is the time to address a problem that is centuries old; how to make tax popular. There are ongoing debates about the optimum rates of taxation and whether a new wealth tax should be introduced, but all of these debates miss the fundamental problem with tax: people hate it. We have seen how British people voluntarily donated millions of pounds to support NHS workers. Yet tax is still seen by many as something to avoid more vehemently than Covid-19 itself. Changing the psychology of taxation so that it is perceived as an act of philanthropy and part of the social contract would have the single biggest impact on public policy, by making it easier for governments to raise revenue without damaging the economy or losing public support.
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