Rich Tax Dodgers Should 'Pay Their Fair Share'

The Liberal Democrats have used their conference to announce that dedicated inspection teams will crack down on rich tax avoiders.

Danny Alexander , Chief Secretary to the Treasury, revealed how a 100-strong "affluence team" is being employed to make sure the richest are paying up.

The team will target the 350,000 people in the UK whose personal wealth is more than £2.5m and who qualify for the controversial 50p top rate of tax on income over £150,000.

In a speech at the party's Birmingham conference , Mr Alexander said: "My message to the small minority who don't pay what they owe is simple.

"I agree with the Chancellor - we will find you and your money and you will pay your fair share."

The unit will be drawn from 2,250 newly recruited tax inspectors expected to be in place within weeks, he added.

The party's bosses are under pressure to prove to their followers the price they have paid for going into coalition is worth it, and they are not just there to prop up the Conservatives.

Since forming government, the popularity of the Lib Dems has plunged.

The party has suffered drubbings in local elections, defeat in the referendum on electoral reform and a ComRes poll in today's Sunday Mirror gives them just 11% of the vote.

The 50p tax rate is one policy area where they are able to draw a dividing line between the two parties.

Before his speech, Mr Alexander explained to Sky News: "We do have to make sure at a time when we are dealing with huge economic difficulties the tax rate is fair.

"This is an effort to do the right thing for the British economy."

George Osborne is markedly less keen on the levy and has ordered a review to look into whether or not it is justified by the amount of extra revenue it generates, saying "inefficient" taxes are pointless.

But Mr Alexander said scrapping the 50p rate was the wrong priority and turned one of Mr Osborne's pre-election soundbites back on the Chancellor.

He said at the conference: "Some people have argued that we should change our tax priorities and focus our limited resources on cutting taxes for the wealthiest instead.

"At a time of austerity, this argument simply beggars belief.

"If we are all in this together, those with the broadest shoulders must bear the greatest burden.

Business Secretary Vince Cable told Sky News on Sunday the Lib Dems were determined to have "fair" taxation.

He suggested the party could demand a "mansion tax" if the 50p levy was scrapped.

Mr Cable told party activists that one option was the levy on £2m-plus properties he championed before the General Election.

He told Sky's Murnaghan programme he was not in favour of "bashing the rich", but added: "We can't expect ordinary families to take the squeeze while people at the very top are being helped through tax measures.

"There are alternatives to the 50p tax rate.

"If we do have an alternative, which our Conservative partners will work with, which is tax on property wealth, which is practical and fair, then we can certainly look again at the 50p tax rate.

"But there has to be a tax measure in place which makes it absolutely clear that the wealthiest people in the country are making their contribution."

Angela Eagle, shadow chief secretary to the Treasury, said the Lib Dems must realise that economic credibility comes from delivering on what you promise.

"The biggest enemy of growth is this Government's policy of cutting spending and raising taxes on ordinary families too far and too fast.

"If the Liberal Democrats really want those at the top to pay a fair share then they would back Labour's call for another tax on bankers' bonuses.

"And if they really want to help ordinary families and boost the stalled economy they would temporarily reverse the damaging VAT rise they campaigned against in the General Election."