Income shifting by top rate taxpayers appears to have had a significant impact on the public finances, with the rate cut from 50% to 45% increasing income tax receipts, says David Smith
One of the great frustrations for policymakers in a whole range of areas is that they rarely get the opportunity to carry out controlled experiments. For all the enthusiasm for evidence-based policy most policy involves at least something of a leap in the dark.
Nowhere is this truer than in the area of tax policy. I used to marvel during the many years that Gordon Brown was chancellor of the exchequer at the effort that went into devising little tax incentives and wheezes without anybody ever knowing whether they would work or not. This was particularly the case...
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