The top ten tax villains of 2022

Each year sees politicians new and old cooking up more taxes and higher rates for the public. Here, we look back at the top ten tax "villains" of 2022 to see who was responsible for the most egregious tax-raising acts of the year gone by.

So who made the list for 2022?

Number 10: Jacinda Ardern, Prime Minister of New Zealand

Ardern is trying to impose a fart tax on cows & sheep. Given New Zealand is the world’s largest dairy exporter, that means either more expensive dairy products for consumers or increased cow numbers in other countries. That is, provided they don't also enact fart taxes.

Number 9: Keir Starmer, Leader of the British Labour Party

Among other things, Starmer committed to an ideological tax on non-state education, which would force some 90,000 pupils into state education at a cost of £4.4 billion for the taxpayer.

Number 8: Jonas Gahr Støre, Norwegian Prime Minister

Støre increased the wealth tax, raised the levy on dividends, and scaled back the reduction on business assets for the wealth tax. Over 30 rich Norwegians with a net worth of £2.4 billion have already moved to Switzerland.

Number 7: Godwin Emefiele, Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria

Emefiele began waging a war on cash. He set limits on withdrawal of cash from banks and levied taxes ("processing fees)" ranging from 5% to 10% on those allowed to withdraw more than the weekly limits. This is dangerous news for consumer privacy.

Number 6: Paul Johnson, Director, Institute of Fiscal Studies

The IFS took millions off British taxpayers to promote tax rises. "Tax rises are perfectly feasible. We are not a highly taxed country," he says. This also qualifies Paul for the "Tax Gaffe of the Year" award.

Number 5: The EU

‍The European Union sought to launch its own taxes, such as an EU-wide vaping levy, a levy on CO2, a carbon tax on imports, a windfall tax on energy firms and a tax on some multinationals. It is also trying to impose new rules to increase taxation of crypto assets.

Number 4 - Joe Biden, US President

Biden continually pushed tax increases and succeeded in imposing a 15% minimum tax on corporations, which @Taxfoundation estimates will reduce economic output by 0.2%, eliminate 30k full-time jobs and reduce average after-tax incomes for all Americans.

Number 3 - Jeremy Hunt, UK Chancellor

After his appointment Hunt presented a dishonest budget focused on tax increases rather than spending cuts, in which he even resurrected the 1960s socialist phrase “unearned income.” He is also responsible for reintroducing punitive measures against the self-employed.

Number 2 - John Swinney, Scottish Finance Minister

Swinney hiked income tax so those starting to earn over £43,663 have 54% of their income confiscated by the SNP Government, 22% more than their counterparts elsewhere in the UK. This is risks further brain drain by exacerbating tax competition with England.

Number 1 -  Rishi Sunak, British Prime Minister

Sunak raised the UK tax burden to the highest level since the Second World War. He deterred investment by raising the corporate tax rate by 30%, and pushed millions into higher rates of tax.

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