Millionaires Flourish Under Wilson

from a special correspondent An examination of the Inland Revenue's report for the year ended ‘arch 31, 1967, reveals many interesting trends, The figures cover the tax year 1965-66, in that period the number of people with a total annual income of £100,000 or more (the official definition of a millionaire) rise from 131 to 170, These "millionaires" had a total income of £25,500,(00 between them, an average of well over £150,000, They paid £13,500,000 i: surtax. Sharp rises took place in the numbers of those in other higher ir ccme brackets, too. Those with between £75,000 and £100,000 increasec from 130 to 161, and the number between £50,000 and £75,000 rose even more steeply, from 381 to 519, In fact, increases took place in every income bracket over £2,500 but the number with between £2,000 and £2,500, fell 24,500 tn 22,500. ‘The total number of incomes over £2,000 was up from 347,000 to 3&4,000. It must be stressed, however, that these figures should be treated with caution, It is precisely the people with most money who can afford to employ. accountants to take full advantage of loopholes in tax law (to put it mildly), Having made this qualification the trend is interesting. Another trend revealed was that investment income rose as compared to earned income as a source of osmoney for those in the surtax bracket. In 1965-66 it was higher than earned income for the first time in 10 years, The breakdown in the past three periods has been: 1963-64 earned £927m.; unearned £836m.; 1964-65 earned £1,055m.; unearned £977m. 3 1965-66 earned £1,162m.; unearned £1,198m, Of the millionaires, only two out of 151 people with assessed income of £100,000 (assessed and total income are different) had no money coming in from investments. These figures certainly back up the demands for a wealth tax which some sections of the movement are putting forward.