The controversial 50p tax rate would be brought back by a Labour government, Ed Balls has vowed.
The shadow Chancellor said the top rate of income tax would apply to anyone earning over £150,000 if his party wins next year’s election.
The Coalition dropped it down to 45 per cent in April last year after putting it back up to 50 per cent in 2010.
Speaking to the Fabian Society at its annual conference in London, Mr Balls said: "The latest figures show that those earning over £150,000 paid almost £10 billion more in tax in the three years when the 50p top rate of tax was in place than when the government conducted its assessment of the tax back in 2012.
"And when the deficit is still high[...] it cannot be right for David Cameron and George Osborne to have chosen to give the richest people in the country a huge tax cut."
The highest top rate of income tax was 60 per cent, which lasted for almost a decade under Thatcher’s government.
Mr Balls’ speech was seen as an attempt to enhance Labour’s credibility on the economy.
Labour toughens fiscal policy with promise to reduce national debt
He announced a “binding fiscal commitment” to balance the books and cut national debt.
“Where this government has failed, we will finish the job,” he added.
Other pledges included expanding free childcare for working parents, requiring the long-termed unemployed to take a compulsory job or lose benefits and tougher regulation on energy companies and banks.
Posted: Sat Jan 25, 2014 3:11 pm
