BillyV
Antidisestablishmentarian
- Oct 31, 2011
- 592
- 118
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Apparently the UK is missing a large group of millionaires, whose disappearance just happened to coincide with the institution of a 50% top marginal rate.
In the 2009-10 tax year, more than 16,000 people declared an annual income of more than £1 million to HM Revenue and Customs. This number fell to just 6,000 after Gordon Brown introduced the new 50p top rate of income tax shortly before the last general election. The figures have been seized upon by the Conservatives to claim that increasing the highest rate of tax actually led to a loss in revenues for the Government.
It is believed that rich Britons moved abroad or took steps to avoid paying the new levy by reducing their taxable incomes.
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Far from raising funds, it actually cost the UK £7 billion in lost tax revenue.
Two-thirds of millionaires left Britain to avoid 50p tax rate - Telegraph