Here is a silly bit of crowing in the Guardian about how the 50p tax is actually raising money for the state. It isn't silly because the numbers are obviously wrong - it may well be the case that the rate has bumped up the tax-take in the 2010/11 tax year, although not by nearly as much as its fans hoped it might (note that, so far, the total self assessment-take is actually down £500m or so on last year).
But it is silly because it assumes that, if it has bumped up the tax-take, thenit will continue to do so. A good many 50% payers will have found that there is little they can do about their new tax rate in the immediate term they get paid PAYE, so avoidance is tricky, and those who are freelance or self employed may not have stopped to think about it in time for this year's tax bill.
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