Analysis: Tax reform is the task no party wants to take on

Given the unmitigated political and financial disaster that Liz Truss’ mini-budget turned out to be, it is understandable to be squeamish about substantial changes to the system, but it is long overdue.

High tax burdens are unfair if they don’t deliver good public services, but many of the UK’s various taxes on wealth, income and property are so staggeringly unfair in how they operate that it’s a wonder that they still exist.

Let’s start with council tax, a very basic principle that if your property is bigger then you chip in more money for local services.

Council tax bands are based on 1991 prices meaning that they sometimes have very little bearing on the value of the home, and vary massively across the country, meaning you pay more than double for a Band D property in Nottingham than you do in Westminster in London.

If you would like to move out of your expensive area, then that is going to cost you as well, in Stamp Duty.

The effect keeps those wanting to downsize in retirement stuck in their home, making it harder and more expensive for others to start a family.

In your quest to get more money to afford this expensive home, there are two taxes on your income: Income Tax and National Insurance, which successive chancellors knock a tiny bit off here and there.

Your money from National Insurance goes straight to those who are retiring on a state pension, with those in their 20s and 30s decades away from feeling the benefit.

You don’t stop paying National Insurance after you’ve done your 35 years of becoming eligible for the state pension either, you’ll keep paying it for someone else’s retirement.

The state pension's cost to the taxpayer is enormous, is forever rising due to the triple-lock which the Government admits is unsustainable, and is a payoff that is for many getting further and further away as ministers up the pension age.

At a time of high inflation, state pensions go up while the value of your wages go down.

Nobody likes taxes, they’re unfair, but nobody wants to reform them.

Earlier this week Rachel Reeves told The Yorkshire Post that she is not looking for a major overhaul of the tax system.

Similarly the Government has quietly dropped its commitment to reforming council tax.

The reason for this is sad, but simple: because changing the status quo creates winners and losers.

Those that benefit from the current unfairness in the system would lose out if it is addressed, and that is some powerful ammunition for the opposing party to attack with.

Instead we continue with the status quo of tinkering around the edges to create the biggest saving for the biggest number of people as possible, and then stick it on a campaign poster.

The next election provides an opportunity for Labour to get a majority large enough to take the difficult decision and reform taxes.

Yet, with its own newly-found economic credibility on the line, it’s easy to see why keeping the status quo is the safer route for a party unused to power.