Jamie Dimon, the chief executive of JP Morgan, has warned Andy Burnham that raising taxes on banks could threaten the bank’s planned £3bn headquarters in London and drive investment away from Britain. Speaking on the Master Investor Podcast, Dimon said: “I mean, it may sound great, ‘tax the banks’, but it’s $5bn that my shareholders paid on that extra tax. I just think things like that have adverse consequences.”
The warning comes as academics urged Burnham to introduce a 2% minimum charge on households with more than £100m in wealth, a measure that could raise £10bn a year and affect fewer than 1,000 of the UK’s richest families. The proposal, by Gabriel Zucman, professor of economics at the Paris School of Economics, and Ben Tippet, lecturer at King’s College London, would force HMRC to calculate the accumulated wealth of the ultra-rich, including property, businesses, art, and charitable assets.
“Burnham urged to impose 2% wealth tax on super-rich, while JP Morgan boss warns bank tax could threaten £3bn London HQ.”
“Given the small numbers of households that would be taxed, the UK government could implement this quickly,” said Zucman, known as the architect of the global wealth-tax movement. Tippet added: “The report shows that a well-designed minimum tax on the very wealthiest households is a realistic, targeted reform that would make the UK’s tax system fairer while raising substantial revenue.”
Burnham, who has hinted at a wealth tax as part of his 10-year plan, told Gary Lineker last week: “I do believe we need a greater sense of fairness… but at the same time I don’t want to be perceived as someone who is coming in with grudges and agendas and demonise one group.” His advisers have focused on raising capital gains tax to match income tax.
Dimon, who has a track record of criticising the UK’s bank tax surcharge, said he did not know what he would do about the Canary Wharf tower if Burnham targeted banks. “That’s a binary decision… I don’t know what I would do,” he said, adding that the UK should have a competitive tax system “conducive to capital formation”.
Banks in the UK already pay a 28% corporation tax rate, higher than the standard 25%, plus a separate levy. As Burnham prepares to lay out his tax plans, he faces competing pressures: to tax the super-rich and to keep the City competitive.