George Osborne’s stated justification for abolishing the 50p income tax rate was that, due to mass avoidance, it raised “just a third of the £3bn” expected. Even by Osborne’s standards, this was a peculiarly unconvincing argument. It’s true that £16bn of income was shifted into the previous tax year – when the rate was still 40p – but this was a trick the rich could only have played once. Moreover, as the government has acknowledged in other instances, tax avoidance isn’t an argument for cutting tax, it’s an argument for limiting avoidance.
But leave this aside. The fact remains that, as Osborne conceded, the 50p rate raised £1bn (and had the potential to raise far more). Not a transformative amount, to be sure (the deficit is forecast to be £120.9bn this year), but hardly to be sniffed at. Indeed, it’s precisely this argument that the government makes when justifying “tough” measures such as the “bedroom tax” (which it is hoped will save £465m a year): every little helps.
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