Stamping out dodgers could lower UK income tax

Income tax in the UK could be cut by 2p if the government clamped down on tax avoidance, Danny Alexander has said.The Chief Secretary to the Treasury said UK tax could be cut if the wealthy pay their fair share of income tax. Prime Minister David Cameron has been criticised for commenting on comedian Jimmy Carr’s use of a legal tax avoidance scheme but refusing to speak out over Take That’s Gary Barlow allegedly using a similar system.Mr Alexander told the Sunday Politics show on BBC1, “As a Treasury minister I would not get into the details of any individual’s tax affairs. We have taxpayer confidentiality in this country.”He added, “But what is very important, and what I very strongly agree with the Prime Minister about, is that the kind of aggressive tax avoidance that has been well reported over the course of the week is something that has to be cracked down on.”The Liberal Democrat minister said everybody “especially the rich and famous” must pay their fair share of tax. He called tax evasion and “aggressive” tax avoidance “morally repugnant”.Earlier in the show, former Prime Minister Tony Blair said he believes the mood in the country has changed and people are now less tolerant of tax avoidance because of the current economic climate.

http://www.50percenttax.co.uk/index/2012/6/27/stamping-out-dodgers-could-lower-uk-income-tax.html