Buy back better: The case for raising taxes on dividends and buybacks

Article

Households are experiencing a real-terms income squeeze while some of Britain’s largest companies transfer profits to their shareholders at record levels.

Taxes on shareholder transfers should be raised to ensure that companies are not channelling profits to their shareholders at a time of national economic crisis.

This briefing paper argues that the UK government can raise revenues by increasing taxes on dividends and buybacks. This is one mechanism which will allow the government to extend support for households and businesses through the cost of living crisis without resorting to public service cuts. The government should be prioritising progressive revenue-raisers which address growing wealth inequality, rather than turning back to the austerity cuts of the past.

This briefing is published in collaboration with Common Wealth as part of our programme of work exploring profits and corporate power post-pandemic.

Related items

  1. A woman with long dark hair wearing a woolly hat puts her arm around her small son who is holding a teddybear. They're in a community centre in front of boxes of charitable donations

    Making the Child Poverty Strategy work for migrant families

    If we are serious about tackling child poverty, we cannot ignore the children of migrant families.
  2. Two young children run playing underneath a rainbow canopy in a park or garden

    It takes a village: Empowering families and communities to improve children's health

    How can we build the healthiest generation of children ever?

  3. Scotland: Taxed enough already? Maybe not

    It is possible to make the case for progressive increases in income tax while in government. You can win the argument, and the world won’t come to an end.