George Osborne is hoping to scrap the 50p top rate of tax in his Budget in 2013, on the back of evidence that new higher rate does not make money for the Exchequer
George Osborne is hoping to scrap the 50p top rate of tax in his Budget in 2013, on the back of evidence that new higher rate does not make money for the Exchequer.
The Chancellor has insisted that the rate is only temporary and he wants to offer traditional Tory supporters tax cuts well before the next election.
A review is about to begin into the how much the new rate – brought in by Labour but endorsed by the Coalition – brings in. But it is understood that 2013 has been pencilled in as the best-case scenario for the tax to be lowered.
In his Budget last month Mr Osborne said that high personal tax rates “crush enterprise, undermine aspiration and often undermine tax revenues as people avoid them.”
He would not be drawn on when he intends to bring the rate back down.
After three years of straightened economic times and little to cheer Tory voters, Mr Osborne will, by 2013, be desperate to break free from the deficit reduction straight-jacket that has limited any moves they could make to cut taxes.
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