'Cool Britannia' Gets Out Of Bed With New Labour Over 50p Tax Rate

by Robert Lee, Tax-News.com, London

06 October 2009

Controversial British artist Tracey Emin has said that she will leave the UK rather than pay the 50% tax on earnings above GBP150,000, due to be introduced in April next year.

Emin, who is perhaps most famous for her Turner Prize-nominated work ‘My Bed,’ told the Guardian newspaper in an interview that she is “simply not willing” to pay tax at 50%. “I reckon it would mean me paying about 65p in every pound with tax, National Insurance and so on,” she said.

Emin revealed that she would likely spend more time in France, where personal income tax rates range from 5.5% to 40%. Indeed, the artist already has a home in Provence, where she is also having a new studio built, according to the Guardian.

Emin’s protestations at the new tax were spoken as reports emerged alleging that the BBC is advising its television news readers and presenters about how they can avoid paying the 50% rate by setting up companies, through which they can be remunerated via dividends payments.

There have also been numerous reports that the 50% tax is complicating matters for the country’s top football teams, who are struggling to attract top foreign talent to their clubs. Some of the Premier Leagues biggest names earn in excess of GBP100,000 per week, and accountants and players’ advisors have doubtless been busy in recent months constructing new remuneration schemes to avoid the tax.

In September, a survey released by the Association of British Insurers (ABI) suggested that as many as two-thirds of senior management in British companies are considering a move abroad because of the UK tax system.

“The link between competitiveness and personal taxes needs to be recognized,” the ABI proposed. “The higher rate of income tax, and restriction of tax relief on the pension contributions of high earners, reduces the attractiveness of the UK as a place to work for company executives.”

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