Survey: Tax Central Issue In UK Election

by Amanda Banks, Tax-News.com, London

27 April 2010

A survey conducted by the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) has found that 43% of UK citizens say tax will be the biggest influence over their voting decision at the forthcoming general election, but more than 80% feel they have little or practically no understanding of the main political parties’ tax policies. The survey questioned 2,047 people from across the UK, in association with Maximiles UK.

Of the respondents, 32% said they had almost no understanding of the Liberal Democrat’s policy on tax, while 26% said they had a complete understanding of Labour’s approach to tax compared with 21% for the Conservatives.

Glenn Collins, Head of Advisory Services for ACCA UK, said: “With just under two weeks until the General Election, it is alarming that the UK electorate still feels so unsure of the main political parties’ policies towards tax. There is an urgent need for clarity, transparency and certainty in the UK taxation system and in party policy to ensure that we go to the polls educated about the impact of our vote on the future of the UK economy.”

Council tax proved to be the UK’s least popular tax, with 30% of respondents claiming it to be the tax they most resent paying, closely followed by inheritance tax with 21% of the vote. Only 17% of respondents understood exactly where their tax money went and only 21% would consider paying more tax for improved public services.

In Wales, only 7% of respondents felt that they completely understood Plaid Cymru’s approach to tax, whilst 19% of Scottish respondents felt they fully grasped the taxation policy of the Scottish National Party.

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