Almost 70 per cent of the public in Britain believe that the top 1 per cent of earners already pay an appropriate level of tax, according to a report from the Adam Smith Institute think-tank.
The research represents a blow to Prime Minister Andy Burnham's tax-the-rich agenda as ministers prepare for the upcoming Budget on October 28. The Adam Smith Institute, a free-market research organization based in London, also found that about two-thirds of those surveyed recognised that taxes on working people would rise if wealthy people were forced to emigrate after being hit in the wallet.
Prime Minister Andy Burnham has refused to rule out further tax rises on the wealthiest households. He has also come under pressure to increase capital gains tax, which is levied on the sale of second homes, shares and other assets. Mr Burnham has said previously he will look in detail at a capital gains tax, but has made no firm commitments.
Warnings over proposed capital gains tax
The potential tax hikes have drawn warnings from economic experts, including close allies of the Prime Minister. Economist Lord O'Neill of Gatley, a life peer who turned down a role in Mr Burnham's government despite being sought after for his economic credibility, warned last week that if the Government raised taxes in the Budget on October 28 it would demonstrate ministers were not "thinking about growth as sincerely as they claim they are".
Lord O'Neill told The Times that it would be "stupid" for the Prime Minister to introduce a capital gains tax on the wealthy, warning that the move would lead to entrepreneurs fleeing the country and slow economic growth. He added: "I think there is some evidence that if you push it up too much you end up losing money. Because it's such a deterrent to ongoing activities of business owners that they just don't sell anything. So the revenues go down."
The political debate follows tax measures introduced in last autumn's Budget by former chancellor Rachel Reeves, who demanded that those with the "broadest shoulders" pay their "fair share". Those measures left higher earners worse off, despite Mr Burnham's pledge to create "breathing space" for households struggling with the rising cost of living.
Distribution of the UK tax burden
Figures from the TaxPayers' Alliance, a British campaign group focused on public spending and taxation, show that the top 1 per cent earn 13.3 per cent of total income in the United Kingdom but pay 28.2 per cent of all tax.
Shimeon Lee, policy analyst at the TaxPayers' Alliance, said: "Britain's highest earners already shoulder a huge tax burden, yet Labour seems determined to squeeze them further." He added: "Driving wealthy taxpayers and investors overseas is economic self-harm, leaving workers to pick up the tab. Ministers should stop punishing success and get spending under control."
Sir Mel Stride, who was removed as Shadow Chancellor in Kemi Badenoch's reshuffle, commented on the data that Britain's patience is "wearing thin with Labour's tax rises". He said: "The British people know, far better than this Government, that prosperity is driven by people who want to build a better life, for them and their children. But that won't happen if we hunt down the aspirational and the wealth creators with ever more tax hikes, when they already bear the majority of the burden."
Inflation and millionaire figures
The survey findings coincide with data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS), the UK's national statistical agency, showing that wealthier households are seeing prices rise higher than poorer ones for the first time since March last year. Annual inflation increased by 2.7 per cent for low-income households in the year to June 2026 and by 2.8 per cent for high-income households.
Meanwhile, the number of millionaires in Britain fell to 442,000 last year under Labour's fiscal regime, representing a 7 per cent drop year on year. The ONS measures household assets only every two years, so there are no reliable figures for the exact number of millionaires living in the UK who would be hit by a wealth tax.
