The moral case and a 3-point plan for tax reform
Poverty is not inevitable – it is a choice we can change. Tom Burgess from Taxpayers Against Poverty outlines their new report.
For many churches and faith communities, the reality of poverty is not abstract. It is visible in food banks, advice centres, community cafés and pastoral conversations.
It is seen in families juggling impossible choices, in children arriving at school hungry, and in people whose dignity is eroded by constant insecurity.
What is sometimes less visible is this: poverty in a wealthy country is not unavoidable. It is the result of choices — economic, political and moral — and that means it can be changed.
That is the central message of The Nicolson Report: The Poverty Scandal, published by Taxpayers Against Poverty (TAP) in the spirit of the late Reverend Paul Nicolson, the founder of TAP.
Paul believed that poverty should never be accepted as normal, and that public policy must be judged by its impact on the poorest. This report follows that conviction.
Poverty is harming the economy
The UK is one of the richest countries in the world, yet more than 14 million people live in poverty, including around 4.5 million children. Deep poverty and destitution are rising.
Many households cannot reliably afford food, heating or housing.
These are not marginal numbers. They represent a structural failure — and they come at a heavy cost, not just to individuals and families, but to society as a whole.
Poverty damages health, leading to avoidable illness and enormous pressure on the NHS. It undermines education and limits life chances. It weakens communities and erodes social trust. And it harms the economy through lost productivity and higher public spending.
The Nicolson Report estimates that poverty and hunger cost the UK economy over £75 billion every year in lost output and reactive spending. In other words, we already pay for poverty — just in the most destructive and inefficient way possible.
Preventing poverty is better than reacting to it
From a faith perspective, this matters deeply. Poverty is not just about material lack; it is about dignity, justice and relationship. When people are pushed into hardship by systems that fail them, something is broken in our common life.
But the report also makes a clear economic case: preventing poverty is far cheaper — and far more effective — than managing its consequences. Investing in people’s ability to live securely, participate in society and contribute to the economy benefits everyone.
This challenges a damaging narrative that has taken hold in recent years: that we cannot “afford” to reduce poverty. The evidence shows the opposite: we cannot afford not to.
Why tax reform matters
A key argument in the Nicolson Report is that the UK’s tax system actively contributes to poverty and inequality. At present, it over-taxes work and under-taxes wealth.
People on low and middle incomes pay income tax, National Insurance and VAT on most of what they spend. Meanwhile, large amounts of wealth — from property, investments
and inheritance — are taxed lightly, inconsistently or not at all.
Some of the poorest households pay a higher proportion of their income in tax than the wealthiest. This is not only unfair; it starves public services of the resources needed to prevent poverty.
The report argues for a shift towards fairer taxation of wealth, including:
- Taxing income from wealth at similar rates to income from work
- Reforming Council Tax so it reflects real property values and cancelling it for renters
- Closing loopholes that allow large inheritances and investment income to escape fair taxation
These are not punitive measures. They are about responsibility and stewardship — recognising that wealth is built on shared foundations: education, healthcare, infrastructure and social stability.
A call to action
Churches have long understood that charity alone cannot end poverty. Compassion must be matched by justice. Alongside immediate support for those in need, we must also
challenge the systems that create and sustain hardship.
The Nicolson Report invites all of us — churches, campaigners, policymakers and citizens — to refuse to accept poverty as inevitable. It calls for bold leadership, fair taxation, and sustained investment in the things that allow everyone to flourish.
This is not about ideology. It is about outcomes. It is about choosing a society where no one is left behind.
Paul Nicolson believed that change begins when people refuse to look away. Faith communities across the country are already doing that work — standing alongside those in hardship, speaking truth to power, and holding hope alive.
The challenge now is to turn that moral clarity into structural change.Poverty benefits no one. Ending it benefits us all.
