Boris Johnson hits out at bank tax
London Mayor calls bonus tax ‘ill-judged’ and ‘damaging’
Boris Johnson has attacked the government’s plans to tax bank bonuses and
warned it risked damaging London’s competitiveness.
In a letter to chancellor Alistair Darling, the London mayor argued that the
move to tax bonuses over £25,000 at 50%, along with the raising of the top rate
of income tax to 50%, was “ill-judged”.
“You have made unilateral changes to taxation the risk damaging London’s
competitiveness and its status, alongside New York, as the world’s leading
financial services centre,” he wrote.
The
Telegraph reported that he has requested an urgent meeting with Darling
to discuss “the damage done to perceptions of London as a global financial
centre”.