Lib Dems plan to tax wealthy, Clegg confirms

THE LIBERAL DEMOCRATS will raise taxes on high earners should they win the General Election in May, party leader Nick Clegg has pledged.

Speaking on the BBC’s Andrew Marr show, the deputy prime minister (pictured) said the plan to cut the deficit would involve “a mixture of the following components: clamping down on tax evasion and tax avoidance; significant additional savings in Whitehall”.

He said: “There need to be some additional savings but not nearly on the totally implausible scale the Conservatives have said in the welfare budget and there will need to be some tax increases as well which fall on the wealthiest in society.”

But while that policy may prove popular among the UK’s voters, a similar policy put forward by US president Barack Obama has been met with fierce criticism from the Republicans.

He plans to propose a series of measures designed to bring in $300bn (£197bn) to help fund extra middle-class-friendly tax credits.

Part of Obama’s plan includes raising the top rate of tax on capital gains to 28%, up from 23.8%, while loophole allowing heirs of large estates to avoid paying the full rate will be closed.

Meanwhile, the US’s largest finance firms – those with more than $50bn in assets – face a new fee, but with congress deeply riven on fiscal policy, it is likely to be strongly opposed.