New Poll Reveals 7 in 10 Brits Believe Top 1% Pay Their Fair Share

As UK millionaire numbers fall, exclusive polling shows Brits overwhelmingly oppose tax hikes on wealth creators

Voters overwhelmingly believe that Britain’s top earners pay their fair share in tax and strongly oppose further tax hikes on wealth creators, according to major new polling by Adam Smith Insights on behalf of the Adam Smith Institute.

The national survey reveals that 69% of the public believe the top 1% of earners, who currently generate nearly 29% of all UK income tax revenue, pay their fair share or more.

The findings demonstrate that public support for a 'wealth tax', supported by influencers like Gary Stevenson, is deceptively fragile. While initial headline support stands at 61%, it drops down to just 37% when voters are informed that high taxes risk driving high net worth individuals abroad and reducing revenue available for public services.

Voters also grasp the risk of capital flight, with 64% acknowledging that taxes on ordinary working people would inevitably rise if large numbers of wealthy individuals fled the country.

This polling follows The Adam Smith Institute’s latest Millionaire Tracker which shows that Britain currently holds 442,000 sterling millionaires - down 7% since 2024, marking the lowest figure recorded since the Global Financial Crisis.

Yet, the polling shows the public still underestimate the extent of the wealth exodus. Whilst 53% agree that Britain has become an increasingly hostile environment for anyone attempting to build wealth and achieve success, only 16% of voters realise that the number of UK millionaires has dropped over the past year, while 44% mistakenly believe it has risen.

The Adam Smith Institute is calling for policies to make the UK a more attractive place for HNWIs and build wealth, including abolishing inheritance tax, phasing out Capital Gains Tax and reforming the non-doms tax regime.

KEY FINDINGS

Voters support tax cuts

• 81% agree people should be able to keep more of what they earn and pass it on to their children.

• 66% oppose the idea that a family home passed from parents to children on death should be taxed.

• 45% oppose the UK's inheritance tax versus only 25% who support it.

Voters don't support taxing the rich

• Voters think the wealthiest already pay their share. 69% say the top 1% (who fund ~29% of all income tax) pay their fair share or more. Only 23% say they pay too little.

• While initial support for a wealth tax is 61%, it collapses to 37% the moment people are told it could drive the wealthy abroad and reduce revenue for public services.

Voters underestimate the Millionaire Exodus

• 64% of voters say taxes on ordinary people would rise if large numbers of wealthy people left the UK.

• And, 53% agree Britain has become a hostile place for people who want to build wealth and be successful.

• However, just 16% realise the number of UK millionaires has fallen over the past year (vs 44% who think it rose).

Comments

Andrew Griffith MP, Shadow Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer, said:

“It’s clear [from this polling data that] the public have a better grasp of economic reality than Labour ministers. 

Higher tax rates forcing wealth creators to leave, means that everyone else has to pay more or suffer worse public services. The government is set on re-learning an expensive lesson.”

James Quarmby, Head of the Private Wealth Team at Stephenson Harwood, said:

“That the U.K. has recorded its lowest number of millionaires since 2008 should be of major concern to our policymakers.  

Whilst this phenomenon can be partially explained by falling house prices, there is also no doubt that a combination of adverse government policies, notably the abolition of non dom status and removal of the U.K. investor visa, has had a meaningful impact. 

Put simply, the U.K. is no longer generally regarded as a desirable location for residency or investment by the wealthy. 

Given the UK’s over-reliance on a narrow tax base of high earners, this trend needs to be reversed soon, before too much damage is done.”

-ENDS-

Methodology:

Adam Smith Insights ran a poll on behalf of its sister think tank, the Adam Smith Institute, of a nationally representative sample of GB adults:

• Nationally representative poll of UK 

• Poll conducted via online panels

• Field dates 

• N = 1,788

• N_eff = 1,160

• Poll weighted to population targets to match GB population profile across age, gender, region, ethnicity, and 2024 general election vote using ONS 2021 Census data, age-by-vote distributions derived from Ipsos’s post-election analysis: “How Britain voted in the 2024 election”, national vote share data from the Electoral Reform Society’s 2024 general election results, and YouGov/BES polling.

• The headline poll results, with a median completion time of approximately 3 minutes, has a margin of error of ±2.9%.

• Respondents were filtered for completion quality (e.g., straight-lining, speeding), and responses with incomplete or invalid data were excluded from analysis. No imputation was applied.

Notes to editors:  

The polling is available here.

The Millionaire Tracker is available here.

For further comments or to arrange an interview, contact Sebastian Charleton, press@adamsmith.org | 0758 477 8207

The Adam Smith Institute is one of the world’s leading think tanks. It is ranked first in the world among independent think tanks and as the best domestic and international economic policy think tank in the UK by the University of Pennsylvania. Independent, non-profit and non-partisan, the Institute is at the forefront of making the case for free markets and a free society, through education, research, publishing, and media outreach.

Adam Smith Insights is a new type of data and polling organisation, with a special focus on economics and policy change. Through analysis of public sentiment, we reshape what is politically possible. We help construct reforms which will be more popular and successful, while exposing the failings of our current system. Through a range of quantitative and qualitative methods, we equip policy makers with the right insights to shift the agenda and change reality. We operate globally, with data and analysis covering all regions.

This poll was an Adam Smith Insights poll conducted on behalf of the Adam Smith Institute.