My guess is no. Obama mentioned “fair” or “fairness” a lot in his state of the union address, mostly to signal his desire to raise taxes on the wealthy. England raised the top tax rate on high-income earners to 50%, with the expectation that their tax revenues would go up by 1 billion pounds this year. Guess what?
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 £1billion.
This quote from a tax accountant rather sums it all up:
“…it highlights the fact that high tax rates don’t always deliver high tax revenues.”
Read the rest at The Telegraph
