During the days of the poll tax, the slogan of protesters was “Can’t pay, won’t pay”.
The poll tax (along with Europe) finally did for Margaret Thatcher. Demonstrations and riots across the country, some in otherwise sleepy market towns, made the tax untenable.
A different kind of demonstration has overturned the 50% tax on income over £150,000 per annum. That protest could probably be summed up as “Can pay, won’t pay”. The wealthy just find ways to move their money and assets beyond the reach of the tax collectors. The response from the Government is to say, the rich are not paying this tax at the level we would expect so we are going to drop it. Although the Chancellor used words to attack tax dodgers, he used actions to reward them.
Can you imagine another area of public expenditure where if people refused to pay they were just had the bill removed. If I refused to pay my council tax would the Chancellor abolish the tax, of course not. I would end up in the courts and ultimately in prison.
Once again we see that the normal rules of society don’t apply to the wealthy.
