by KeithE » Fri Nov 30, 2012 8:08 pm
Researched this some more and I doubt "2/3rd of Brits millionaires left the country” in the 6 April, 2010 to 5 April 2011 time period (). Today there are according to a Sept 2012 data base.
Much more likely is that 10,000 (not necessarily multi-millionaires) left the top tax wage bracket (£150,000/yr = $240,000/yr) for the next lower bracket that had a marginal rate of 40% (many by using one or more of the the Brits allow). That explains why the total tax revenues could have gone up, while the top bracket tax revenues went down apparently by £7 billion (if that number is really legit, after all this article was not honest enough to admit that total tax revenues went up, a number they would have to have seen when spotting the drop in top bracket filers/ & top bracket revenues).
Note that government bonds (used as exemptions) also provide near term cash for the UK to operate on so it is not like the UK lost that tax revenue, it just moved into being in the form of bonds (and the rest came through the 40% bracket)
To verify 10,000 high earners leaving the country in that 2010-2011 tax year, the article has to prove more (like giving many examples of who left). Admittedly my interpretation needs more data as well, but is more plausible than a mass exodus of rich people during the 2010-11 tax year suddenly being noticed 3 days ago (27 Nov 2012 when ET’s article appeared). Much more likely is that anti-tax crusaders combed through the data and found a reduction in top bracket filers and made up the exodus scenario not bothering to tell the whole story.
The rest of all ET has said in his last two posts (quoting Sowell, etc.) is numberless dribble and I will not comment. But this was a numerical claim, so I answered.
Informed by Data.
Driven by the SPIRIT and JESUS’s Example.
Promoting the Kingdom of GOD on Earth.