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Public perceptions of the UK tax system

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Carnegie UK partnered with The Social Agency to explore and better understand public awareness and perceptions of taxation across the UK.  

  • Budgets and finance
  • Communities
  • Economy
  • Government and public services
  • Social justice
  • The Social Agency and Carnegie UK
  • 29 September 2025
  • ISBN: ISBN 978-1-917536-02-8
  • 4 minute read

Overview

This work seeks to address growing concerns about public disengagement with taxation policy and to better understand how people view the current UK taxation system, and its perceived complexities and discrepancies. The research focused on two key questions: 

  • What are people’s levels of awareness and understanding of tax and taxation policy across the UK jurisdictions? 
  • What are people’s perceptions of tax and taxation policy across the UK jurisdictions? 

Eight online focus groups were conducted in June 2025, involving 50 participants across Scotland, England, Wales and Northern Ireland, with two groups conducted in each jurisdiction. Groups were split by collective wellbeing levels with one low wellbeing group and one high wellbeing group in each jurisdiction. 

Understanding more about perceptions and drivers of sentiment towards our tax system is essential in supporting fiscal policy making to be more open, effective and accepted by the public. 

We hope the findings from this work can assist decision makers across the UK as they consider fair reforms to the tax system. A more transparent and better understood tax system is essential to ensure everyone can access the public services and opportunities we all need to live well now and into the future. 

Research findings

  • People are well aware of how little they understand about taxes and government spending. Participants across all groups were honest about their limited knowledge and the extent to which they felt confused about taxation, factors which drive unhappiness and discontent with the system. 
  • The complexity of the UK tax system makes it very difficult for people to understand. Participants saw the system as complex because of multiple tax types; complicated band structures; numerous personal circumstances affecting tax rates; overlapping taxes on the same income, and confusing jargon. 
  • Understanding government spending is made difficult by a perceived lack of clear, accessible information and limited public involvement in decision-making. Participants felt excluded from spending decisions and frustrated by what they saw as government secrecy around how taxpayer money is used. 
  • Feeling ignorant and confused about tax and spend makes people sad, anxious, and frustrated by their perceived lack of agency. The complexity of the system created strong negative emotions and a sense of disempowerment, though participants welcomed opportunities to learn more. 
  • Attempts to understand tax and spend rely heavily on personal experiences and how much politicians and the media focus on specific topics. Participants used their own experiences of paying taxes and using services to make judgements, often leading to inaccurate conclusions. Media coverage significantly influenced their perceptions of which taxes and spending areas were most important, again often leading to inaccurate conclusions. 
  • Attempts to understand tax and spend are also influenced by inaccurate beliefs and cognitive biases. Confirmation bias meant participants readily adopted others’ views relating to tax and spend if they reinforced their own, existing negative feelings on the subject, creating fertile ground for misinformation and angry rhetoric tapping into feelings of despair and frustration. 
  • Nevertheless, the group discussions offered an opportunity to learn more about tax for many, indicating the positive role public dialogue can play in education. Several participants described how much they enjoyed the conversations. Dialogue gives space to share and discuss feelings of ignorance and confusion, the top drivers of negative feelings towards taxation and Government spending 

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