1. Two million more top-rate taxpayers
The number of people paying tax at the 40p or 45p rates is to increase by two million under the coalition, going from 3.3 million in 2010-11 to 5.3 million in 2015-16. If the coalition had stuck with the tax policy they’d inherited, there would be 1.3 million fewer top-rate payers at the general election.
2. Permanent giveaways, temporary taxes
At the Budget, George Osborne promised £4.9 billion of permanent giveaways, including another increase in the personal allowance to £10,500 from April 2015, an increase in ISA limits to £15,000, a reduction in the tax on savings income and reductions in alcohol duties. But there were only £0.7 billion worth of permanent tax increases to pay for them – the rest will be covered by bringing tax forward and cutting more.
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