Osborne seeks Revenue check on 50p tax rate

He has asked the Inland Revenue to check whether the 50p top rate of income tax is actually making money for the government, according to reports at the weekend. Some economists have claimed that tax avoidance and evasion mean the rate is raising less income than expected. Speaking on BBC Radio 4's Today programme, Osborne said: "There's not much point in having taxes that are very economically inefficient." But he added the figures would not be known until at least the end of the tax year next April. "I've said with the 50p rate I don't see that as a lasting tax rate for Brita...