It’s the height of Liberal/leftist/progressive fashion to try and tax those evil rich people to make up for idiotic government spending, and also because in Liberal World rich people are simply evil and….well, you’ve heard the story before. So, what happens when government tries it?
(Telegraph) The Treasury received £10.35 billion in income tax payments from those paying by self-assessment last month, a drop of £509 million compared with January 2011. Most other taxes produced higher revenues over the same period.
Senior sources said that the first official figures indicated that there had been “manoeuvring†by well-off Britons to avoid the new higher rate. The figures will add to pressure on the Coalition to drop the levy amid fears it is forcing entrepreneurs to relocate abroad.
The self-assessment returns from January, when most income tax is paid by the better-off, have been eagerly awaited by the Treasury and government ministers as they provide the first evidence of the success, or failure, of the 50p rate. It is the first year following the introduction of the 50p rate which had been expected to boost tax revenues from self-assessment by more than £1 billion.
Although the official statistics do not disclose how much money was paid at the 50p rate of tax, the figures indicate that it is falling short of the money the levy was expected to raise.
The obvious answer is to then play with the tax code and regulations and laws to stop the “manoeuvering” (don’t you just love the Brits and their spelling?), instead of incenting them to put more of their money back into the economy, which then flows around, helping citizens, and eventually ends up in the Treasury in higher amounts.
And, while we don’t have any figures, I think we can all guess that high earning liberals were the most guilty of manoeuvering to avoid the higher rate.
