50% tax rate 'unfair, complex', says think tank
23 Jun 2009, Judith Tydd, AccountancyAge
http://www.accountancyage.com/aa/news/1747788/-tax-rate-unfair-complex-tank
A leading UK think tank has labelled the Treasury's new 50% tax rate as 'unfair, complex, inefficient and damaging.'
The Centre for Policy Studies says the 50% rate, which the Treasury estimates will raise an extra £2.4bn, is minimal compared to the £175bn in government borrowing requirements, according to telegraph.co.uk
The group has said some of Britain's wealthiest taxpayers are now likely to turn their back on the country.
Corin Taylor, senior policy adviser at the Centre for Policy Studies, said the new rate is detrimental to the entrepreneurs who are instrumental in helping to bring the UK out of the recession.
'Green shoots of recovery will wither and die if business leaders leave or choose not to come to this country because of the higher tax rate,' he said.
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Visitor comments
Hackneyed argument
I am sorry to see the Centre for Policy Studies (if your article is correct) resorting to the hackneyed argument that a higher tax rate will cause entrepreneurs to desert the UK en masse.
What proof has the CPS for this assertion? Perhaps it will soon be telling us also that tax avoidance would vanish overnight if tax rates were to be significantly lowered?
Most developed countries have top rates of income tax of 50% and above, and many have significantly higher inheritance taxes, but there is no sign that they have been denuded of all business people and entrepreneurs. Indeed, some of the highest-taxed countries in the world, in Scandinavia for example, also consistently top the polls for the best places to live and for the most contented citizens.
Posted by: Lejasciems , 24 Jun 2009 | 00:00