Yep you guess it the 50p tax band.
This was introduced by the Labour government to make those who gain the most from society pay a bigger share of the costs of the country.
What it actually did was increase the tax benefits of creating a personal service company to avoid tax.
Labour introduced the 50p tax rate in the name of fairness.
It was levied ontp earners of £150K and above.
That was less then 1% of the population bare in mind there are approx 30 million tax payers in the UK.
Well basically the boy stood up and slashed it to 45p in the pound.
Not really a shock there was it.
It's been in the news for god knows how long.
Question being was he right?
Stats from HMRC and OBR say it dragged in £3Bn in tax revenue.
Well 3 bill is a big number but not when you compare it to the taxation budget.
Infact its a bit of a joke.
What apperas to have happened in a nut shell is those with the dough saw a tax hike when Gordon Brown tried to slap through a populist policy on tax in a vain attempt to bolster his piss poor performance.
Yes indeed by the time he banged this through his 10 years of borrow send and never realising it had to be paid back where indeed starting to unravel.
As a result of the tax hike some well to do accountants gave these chaps a bit of loop hole in the means of a personal servic company as 1 example in order to reduce the tax burden on them.
In most cases it looks like the HMRC estimated it dropped their burden to approx 45%.
What I really want to do is see the actual numbers reported.
This 3 bn is approx 1/3rd of what it was supposed to bring in , and also what did it cost to manage that taxation band.
But still if a reduction to 45% means its not worth then persuing a loophole company and the full value is taxed at 45% then its a no brainer.
I mean 45% of 2 mill is a damn site better than 50% of 1 mill.
Anyway he went on with other bits about fuel, fags, booze etc.
Glad I dont smoke by the way...........5% above inflation ..... Jeez !!!!!!!!!
Then up stands David Milliband
Ooopppsss sorry I mean Ed Milliband.
Sorry another BBC fuck up ...............dont shoot the messenger !
And then he retorts with the usual diatribe about millionaires.
Well no wonder we got as a country into such a financial mess with Labout in charge if he thinks £150K a year makes you a millionaire.
And fantastic to see his right hand man, the man with his finger on the cash pulse .......... over his right shoulder the one and only Ed Blinky Balls.......... That will be the same Ed Balls who was in the treasury under Gordon Brown who was part of the toxic team who created this toxic mess.
Still Ok lets put the posturing away for the time being.
The 50p rate was a supposed vote winner thats all..........it failed to do that.
What I need to see a chunk of the HMRC report and the OBR statement saying as a tax it has not dragged in the cash it needed to have done.
Otherwise its just children agruing in the playground...........which is just what the HOC has become.
So c'mon ........ as the film says "Show me the Money"
However
Labour shouts long and shouts loud about fairness so........You would think that these high paid Labour politicians would be happy to pay their fair share of income tax, wouldn't you?
Think again. Here are a few big name who have senior positions in the Labour party:
Ken Livingstone, Labour candidate for Mayor of London
Lord Melvyn Bragg, Labour peer
Lord Mandelson, Labour peer and former Secretary of State for Business
Lord Sugar, Labour peer and star of The Apprentice
David Blunkett, Labour MP and former Home Secretary
David Miliband, Labour MP, former Foreign Secretary and brother of Labour leader Ed Miliband
Gordon Brown, Labour MP, former Chancellor, former Prime Minister, person who introduced the 50p tax rate.
So lets look a little further at the above
Ken Livingstone, Labour candidate for Mayor of London
Personal Service Company: SILVETA LIMITED
Income from: newspaper articles, TV appearances, speeches
Directors: Emma Beal (wife), Ken Livingstone
I will say nothing more about this odious bastard other than a quick visit to Guidos place wont inform you of !!!!!!
Lord Melvin Bragg (Labour peer)
Personal Service Company: MELVYN BRAGG LIMITED
Income from: various TV shows, books
Directors: Catherine Bragg (wife), Melvyn Bragg
Net Worth: £931,775
Note: It is not clear if this company is still trading.
Melvyn Bragg also runs DIRECTORS CUT PRODUCTIONS LTD with partner (and former ITV producer) Cathy Haslam. This company recently produced a BBC show about the British class system. Lord Bragg likes to claim that he is still working class, but he produces high brown arts shows, mixes with the right circles and avoids tax like any other rich person. That doesn't sound 'working class' to me.
Lord Peter Mandelson (Labour peer)
Personal Service Company: WILLBURY LIMITED
Income from: TV appearances, speeches, books, advisor jobs
Directors: unknown.
Registration Date: 26/05/2010
Net Worth: the company does not appear to have submitted accounts yet
Lord Mandelson is also a partner at GLOBAL COUNSEL LLP
Peter Mandelson was the person who went on TV to defend Labour's raising of income tax to 50%. What a shame that he doesn't feel the need to pay it himself.
Lord Alan Sugar (Labour peer)
Personal Service Company: AMSTAR MEDIA LIMITED
Income from: TV show, book
Directors: Danial Sugar, Simon Sugar, Andrew Cohen, Roger Adams, Michael Ray, Claude Mitner (but not Alan Sugar)
Net Worth: £2,401,935
These days his main business interests are his large property portfolio which he bought with all the wealth that he earned by selling off Amstrad.
For the sake of this article I will just look at Lord Sugar's income from his TV show and books. This is money from his own work, not from employing others. This income morally should be taxed as income tax, not corporation tax.
According to the register of members interests he earns money from TV and book writing and the proceeds go into Amstar Media Limited.
Here is a summary of the Amstar Media Limited accounts:
2009 2010 2011
Profit before tax £208,245 £399,935 £2,710,539
Profit after tax £149,938 £287,953 £1,964,043
Tax paid £58,307 £111,982 £746,496
Tax rate 28% 28% 28%
If Lord Sugar had paid income tax on his earnings from working on a TV show and writing a book then he would have paid 50p tax plus National Insurance, so the effective tax rate would be 52% (plus the employer would pay an additional 6%).
By avoiding income tax using his personal services company, the government has lost 58% of the amount but gets 28% in corporation tax. Lord Sugar is effectively paying less than half of the tax that he should be.
The curious thing is that the Amstar Media Limited bank balance not reflect this money and the company does not pay wages or directors. I think the reason is that Amstar Media Limited is owned by Lord Sugars holding company, AMSHOLD GROUP LIMITED. This company has over £120 million in the bank and a net worth of £264,472,000.
Amshold Group Limited should not be confused with AMSHOLD LIMITED, which is another Lord Sugar company that is registered in tax haven Jersey and which has a net worth of £216,144,994.
It appears that the profits (i.e. Lord Sugar's personal income from working as a TV celebrity) goes into his holding group company, which also includes several other companies - mainly related to his property investments.
Another of Lord Sugar's companies is AMSVEST LIMITED. I believe that this is the company that he uses to invest in companies co-owned by the winners of The Apprentice. That money looks like it comes from Amstar Media Limited via Lord Sugar's holding group.
So, next time Alan Sugar claims that he will invest his personal money with the next Apprentice winner remember that half of that money really belongs to the tax payer because Lord Sugar avoided tax on his personal income.
David Blunkett
Personal Service Company: HADAW PRODUCTIONS AND INVESTMENTS LTD
Income from: adviser jobs, speeches, lecturing job
Directors: Hugh Blunkett, Andrew Blunkett, Alastair Blunkett, David Blunkett
Net worth: £683,783 (2011)
According to the register of members interests, the company received income from:
- advisor to scandal hit A4E Ltd (which the Labour party are trying to associate with David Cameron only......not 1 of their own was in it)
- advisor to scandal hit News International (again, which Labour try to associate with the Conservatives)
- advisor to US based Secure Trading Inc.
- lecturing at the London School of Business and Finance
- various speaking engagements
These are all jobs which he has personally undertaken, but where the money was paid into the company to avoid income tax. According to the register he has not received any income from the company, but as he has family members as directors he can avoid inheritance and income tax by letting them receive income from it.
David Blunkett has also donated cash to the Labour party in the past. What a shame that the money came from avoiding paying income tax.
David Miliband MP
Personal Service Company: THE OFFICE OF DAVID MILIBAND LIMITED
Income from: unknown (possibly newspaper articles, TV appearances, speeches, various advisor jobs, teaching jobs)
Directors: Louse Miliband (wife?), David Miliband
Note: this company was registered 21/12/2010 (after he lost the Labour party leadership) but is not mentioned in the register of members interests yet. I cannot find any accounts for it either.
Note: I didn't bother including Tony Blair - we all know how little tax he pays on his fortune, but at least he employs a large team.
Gordon Brown MP
Personal Service Company: THE OFFICE OF GORDON AND SARAH BROWN LIMITED
Income from: book, speeches, lecturing jobs, adviser jobs
Director: Sarah Brown (wife) - but not, it seems, Gordon Brown!
Note: this company was registered 1/9/2010 (after he lost the general election) and I cannot find any accounts for it yet.
AND FINALLY .............. The 1 the Only
Tony Blair - we all know how little tax he pays on his fortune, but at least he employs a large team.
So the title of the Labour Election manifesto was bang on then.
In case there was any doubt .............. I cant stand hypocrits and I cant stand socialism .......... the worst politics there is !!!!!!
Hat Tip Here
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