Tax dodging: The government doesn’t want you to watch this

38 Degrees members are causing a stir. The Mayfair tax loophole – exposed by us, campaigned against by us – costs the country up to £700m a year and only benefits the mega-rich. The Labour party has promised to close the tax loophole if they win the election. And the Green party and the SNP have promised that they’d do the same.

Polling day is in three weeks, and the result is too close to call. Labour are one of the parties who could lead the next government, and the Greens and the SNP could hold the balance of power. Having all three promise to close the Mayfair loophole if they’re in government is amazing news for us.

But not everyone’s listening. The Conservatives and Lib Dems could be back in government again – and smaller parties like UKIP, Plaid Cymru and the DUP could have a lot of influence. It’s crucial that every party promises to close the loophole, so that whoever’s in power, we can make sure it happens. The parties are finishing their lists of promises now, so getting the closing the Mayfair loophole in there is urgent.

Politicians have spent the last five years telling us that tax dodging is complicated – it’s felt like they want us to think it’s too difficult to understand. But it’s not that difficult: even a nine year old can explain why tax dodging is bad, and what to do about it. In fact, here’s a video of Samai doing just that.

Please watch it, then forward it to your friends to share it far and wide. If tens of thousands of us watch it and share it, it can spread from us to our friends and on to to their friends. Politicians desperate for votes and popularity will have to respond – and commit to closing the loophole.

38 Degrees members have always believed that the fair society we want should have fair tax rules. So in January, thousands of us chipped in to fund a report from a tax expert which exposed the Mayfair loophole – the tax dodge that lets millionaire finance bosses wriggle out of up to £700m in tax every year. Over 200,000 of us signed a petition to politicians telling them to shut it. We wrote to our MP candidates and flooded local papers with letters. Now, the responses we’re seeing from political parties show us it’s working. Together, we’re inching the door shut on tax dodgers.

But we’re not done yet. The more noise we make about the Mayfair loophole now, the more chance we have of getting every party signed up before polling day. And if we can spread the word and make it something every voter agrees with, no party will dare back out once they’re in government. Politicians have been known to break promises – but if we work together, this time they’ll know they can’t.

Click here to get watch a quick video that blows the ‘tax dodging is SO HARD’ myth right out of the water – and then share it far and wide to keep on building the pressure.