Bigger tax bills in effect for high earners

Date: 6th April 2010

Today (April 6th) marks the start of a new tax year and the commencement of new tax rules confirmed during the recent Budget report.

With immediate effect, the country's high earners will face a higher rate of tax than in the previous tax year.

As per chancellor of the exchequer Alistair Darling's announcement, people earning more than £150,000 per year will now pay a tax rate of 50p for every £1 earned above a certain threshold.

It has been estimated that the rule will affect around 300,000 British workers.

In what is being billed by some experts as a "double pronged attack" on the wealthy, the government has also scrapped a tax-free allowance for those on a large income.

The previously held £6,475 tax-free earnings allowance has been taken away from workers earning in excess of £100,000 per year, meaning they will now pay tax on every single pound that they earn.

Mr Darling's decision to increase the taxation and scrap the relief was buoyed by the recent revelation that the one-off 50 per cent bonus tax raised around £2 billion, which was more than many experts had anticipated.