Louise Haigh Proposes Raising Capital Gains Tax Rates and Easing Fiscal Rules

Louise Haigh proposed raising capital gains tax rates and relaxing the government’s fiscal rules to permit additional borrowing by public finance institutions. @Independent reported that Haigh, in an essay published Saturday in the Renewal journal, said capital gains tax should be brought closer to income tax rates.

Current rates stand at 18 to 24 per cent; the change would allow taxation at a 45 per cent rate.

Haigh described the reform as central to restoring confidence that the system does not favour those able to structure their income over those earning through work. She also called for measures to address intergenerational fairness and identified the capital gains tax uplift at death as a loophole that allows unrealised gains to escape taxation.

In a separate essay in the same journal, Haigh proposed enabling the National Wealth Fund to borrow against its existing balance sheet outside the fiscal rules.

She further recommended removing the growth mandate from the Treasury, which she described as Britain’s imperial finance department. Haigh served as Andy Burnham’s campaign manager in Makerfield and has been tipped to take up a top job in his cabinet.