Government announces plans to attack high net worth individuals
The UK government has announced an expansion of its "high net worth unit" with a cumulative £900 million investment to scrutinise the tax returns and assets of high net worth individuals in the UK. The government expects to recoup up to £7 billion from 2014/15 although there is uproar that so much money is apparently being invested to simply attack the rich in the UK.
While there's no doubt that a number of high net worth individuals in the UK sail very close to the wind regarding tax avoidance and tax evasion it seems as though this particular area of the UK population has become something of a funding machine for the government. We saw the introduction of a 50p tax rate, simply to attack those seen to earn too much in the UK, and now apparently their tax returns will come under closer scrutiny than ever before.
While the UK authorities would deny this, there is no doubt that ongoing attacks on high-income earners in the UK is starting to impact upon sentiment towards the UK as a whole. If you were a high earning banker, who could possibly work out-with the UK, would you put yourself in a position where the authorities continually attack your income tax and your returns?
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