£54bn Council Pensions Black Hole
In the face of union pressure local authorities and other public sector organisations have been reluctant to accept the need for necessary pension reforms. Read more...
The £28bn tax gap
The TaxPayers’ Alliance (TPA) has revealed that £28.5 billion of tax revenue has been lost to the illicit market in spirits, beer, cigarettes, hand rolling tobacco and diesel between 2005-06 and 2009-10. To read the full report, click here Read more...
Hampshire Councils' Flights
In October 2011 the TaxPayers’ Alliance exposed how much money was spent on flights by councils in the Midlands. Read more...
Total Lifetime Tax
This research note provides new estimates for the total amount of direct and indirect tax paid by average and poor households over their lifetimes. The estimates are calculated on the basis of a working lifetime of 40 years and 15 years of retirement; the results are quite shocking... Read more...
The True Cost of the LGPS
At a time when public sector pensions are under the spotlight, we reveal the true cost to taxpayers of ‘employer contributions’ to the Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS). Read more...
Child Support Agency Credit Card Spending
As part of our campaign for better transparency and accountability in Quango spending, the TaxPayers’ Alliance can reveal the three and a half million pounds the Child Support Agency has spent on its taxpayer-funded credit cards over the last two years.As reported in this weekend's Sunday Express, this spending includes... Read more...
Cost of Government Day 2012
This note extends the concept of Tax Freedom Day, which is calculated annually by the Adam Smith Institute. As the New Year rolls in, the TaxPayers’ Alliance presents an estimate of the Cost of Government day for 2012. Read more...
Police Authority Budgets
In April 2011, the TaxPayers’ Alliance published a report exposing the money wasted on Local Policing Summaries – often expensive glossy documents that can easily be published online – by Police Authorities in England and Wales. Read more...
Council Staff Suspensions
The first report in our Midlands Councils’ Spending Uncovered series revealed that millions of pounds of taxpayers’ money was spent on flights. Read more...
Terms of Endearment
The Eurozone crisis looks set to potentially trigger a treaty change. This provides a broader opportunity for changing Britain’s relationship with the EU. Read more...
Public Sector Pensions Gap
This note exposes how small the gap is between the number of people paying into unfunded public sector pension schemes (‘active members’) and the number drawing their pension (‘pension recipients’). Read more...
Trade Union Funding 2011
Since the TaxPayers' Alliance first revealed the level of taxpayer funding of trade unions last year it has become a major political issue. Read more...
Industrial Masochism
The carbon floor price introduced in Budget 2011 threatens to increase energy prices in Britain while reducing them elsewhere in Europe. Read more...
Local Motoring Taxes
Earlier research has shown that motoring taxes at their current rates cannot be justified by the need for spending on the roads and the contribution of road transport to climate change. Read more...
Everyday Tax Transparency
A critical part of the Government’s work on cutting spending is to introduce greater transparency, so taxpayers can see how their money is spent. Tax transparency is just as important, so that people know how much they are paying. Read more...
Midlands Councils' Flights
In the first in a new series of regional research notes focusing on the Midlands, the TaxPayers’ Alliance can reveal the cost of flights by authorities in the area over the last two years. Our findings show that 48 councils in the region have continued to spend money on air... Read more...
Abolish National Insurance
National Insurance is almost indistinguishable from Income Tax in its function of raising revenue for the Government and in the way it affects incentives for employees. Read more...
Wasting Lives 2011
This paper updates the TaxPayers‘ Alliance‘s 2008 publication Wasting Lives: A statistical analysis of NHS performance in a European context since 1981. It details the poor performance of the NHS when compared with European peers, despite huge increases in funding over the last decade. Read more...
Council Award Ceremonies
With pressure on the budgets of local authorities and council tax having doubled over the past decade, councils need to do all they can to control unnecessary spending and deliver better value for money. Read more...
TfL Surplus Staff
Earlier this year the TaxPayers’ Alliance uncovered details of the Royal Mail surplus staff scheme. Read more...
The Hidden Costs of HS2
While the business case for HS2 continues to unravel, this research note examines the hidden costs of the project. Read more...
Update: Trade Union Rich List 2011
In June the TaxPayers’ Alliance published the 2011 Trade Union Rich List. It detailed the highest paid union bosses in 2009-10. This note reveals brand new figures, showing pay and benefits from 2010-11. Read more...
£27.4 billion not collected by the taxman
The TaxPayers' Alliance (TPA) today reveals that Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC) has given up on £27.4 billion of tax revenue in the last five years. The findings are contained in a new TPA report for the 2020 Tax Commission (a joint project by the TPA and Institute of Directors). If the Government simplified the tax code, errors on this scale... Read more...
Let Them Eat Carbon
Ordinary people are paying a ruinous price for the attempts politicians make to control greenhouse gas emissions. Climate change policies dramatically raise electricity bills; make it much more expensive to drive to work or fly on holiday; put manufacturing workers out of a job and sometimes even make your food... Read more...