Tax burden is dangerous

Tax burden on highest earners has become “dangerous”Government figures show that for the first time the richest workers - estimated as those earning more than £75,300 a year - will pay just over 50% of the income tax collected by the Treasury. Twenty years ago the proportion of income tax paid by the top 5% was 39.6% but is expected to hit 50.1% this year. Prof Philip Booth, senior academic fellow at Institute of Economic Affairs, said: “A highly mobile group of people have become responsible for paying a greater and greater share of the tax take. This is dangerous. The tax base has become too narrow. Allowing a small number of better-off people to shoulder the cost of public services is a risky policy, politically and economically.”