The time for Osborne to shed Brown’s 50p rate is now

Will George Osborne have a better chance to abolish the 50p tax than this month’s Budget? It would be unpopular, so it’s the kind of move he’d be unlikely to make before an election. The Lib Dems have something they want to trade: permission to raise the tax threshold towards £10,000. And two recent reports, by the CEBR (pdf) and IFS (pdf), have reinforced that this tax is losing money. At the heart of the 50p tax is a deeper question: is Osborne a transformative Chancellor who will change the terms of debate? Or is he doomed to operate within parameters set by Gordon Brown? I look at this in my Telegraph column today. Here are my main points:
 
1. The super taxpayers… Even Brown knew that Britain is highly dependent on a tiny number of very rich (and very mobile) people. As The Spectator’s leader revealed last month, the richest 1 per cent earn 13 per cent of salaries paid but contribute 28 per cent of income tax collected.