High earning freelancers and entrepreneurs may be concerned to learn that Danny Alexander, the chief secretary to the Treasury, has indicated that the coalition intends to increase the burden of taxation on the rich.
The Liberal Democrat MP told people in his Scottish Highlands constituency that the wealthiest are already paying more taxes and the government plans to raise even more from them this year.
He explained that further austerity measures are needed and the trend towards awarding excessive pay rises to top executives is devoid from reality. Furthermore, the government needs to come up with measures to ensure greater fairness when it comes to taxation.
The Lib Dems would like to see the introduction of a "wealth tax". This could be in the form of a levy on people owning properties worth in excess of £2 million, for example. The Tory party, on the other hand, favours measures to close tax loopholes such as the one that allows people to invest in properties in this country but register the ownership overseas.
The Conservatives had suggested removing the 50% tax rate but this proposal was killed off when the Lib Dems held their annual conference last year. Both Nick Clegg and Danny Alexander said the government must raise the income tax lower rate threshold to £10,000 before it removes the higher rate.
There's no doubting that we all want to see a fair and transparent tax system in the UK, where everybody contributes their fair share to the Treasury coffers. But if the wealthiest people have to pay more, might they decide to cut their losses and move abroad permanently?
© 2012 All rights reserved. Reproduction in
whole or in part without permission is prohibited.
Image: Tax
Bill by Images_of_Money