Asking Reform voters if we should tax the rich | Reform Party Conference

Last week, PoliticsJOE attended Reform UK's party conference in Birmingham.

In between Andrea Jenkyns singing Insomniac, we asked party members if they supported a wealth tax - and got some surprising answers, especially from young members.

Official party policy does not support a general wealth tax. Instead, their policies aim to reduce taxes on wealth, particularly around inheritance and non-domiciled individuals.

One of their main proposals is to abolish inheritance tax on estates under £2 million. For estates above that threshold, a flat 20% tax rate would apply. This contrasts with the current system where estates over £325,000 face a 40% tax, suggesting Reform UK wants to significantly ease taxation on intergenerational wealth.

They also propose a controversial “Britannia Card” scheme for non-doms (wealthy individuals living in the UK but with overseas income). Under this policy, non-doms would pay a one-off fee of £250,000 in exchange for long-term tax benefits, including a 20-year exemption from inheritance tax and a stable remittance-based system for offshore income. Reform UK claims this would attract wealthy people to the UK while redistributing the collected fees as annual tax-free payments to low-income workers.

However, this raises questions about how Reform plans to fund their big spending plans. Reform UK proposes major spending increases across key public services, with total new commitments estimated at £141 billion per year. Key areas of spending include policing, with 40,000 new officers and 10,000 extra prison places, and defence, aiming to raise spending to 2.5% of GDP within three years and 3% over time. Reform UK also promises tax breaks for frontline NHS and social care workers, including zero basic-rate income tax for three years.

In education, they propose more school funding, teacher pay increases, free school meals, nursery expansion, and improved classroom facilities. On housing, they plan to encourage housebuilding and cut Stamp Duty to improve affordability.

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