Millionaires dodged £110m in tax last year after the Government gave them an early warning of a hike in dividend duty
Explosive details revealed by the OBR revealed 100 of the richest Brits in the country cashed in
It comes as Philip Hammond faces fury for clobbering self-employed with HIGHER taxes.
Ex-Chancellor Mr Osborne announced plans to up the tax on individual dividends by 7.5 per cent in July 2015 – nine months before it came into effect.
The OBR revealed this meant HM Revenue & Customs missed out on a staggering £800 million last year as tycoons brought forward bonuses they paid themselves from their own businesses.
And £110 million-worth of the saving “benefited just 100 individuals”, the OBR said, equivalent to over £1 million each.
On average they each withdrew around £30 million from their companies.
The payouts are entirely legal – but the revelation will pile pressure onto a Government that has committed itself to being on the side of ‘ordinary working families’.
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Lib Dem chief Tim Farron said: “The government clobber White Van Man with a tax hike but help the Tories millionaire friends. It’s a scandal.
“This strivers tax has come about because Osborne has given the super rich enough time to move their cash about. It’s disgraceful.”
Carl Emmerson of the Institute for Fiscal Studies today said there were “sound public finance reasons” to bring tax changes in as soon as possible to avoid what is called ‘forestalling’.
He said it may have been better for Mr Osborne to announce the changes in the Autumn Statement of 2015 to reduce the time available for private income shifting at the public sector’s expense.
Philip Hammond announced a further clampdown on dividend payments in Wednesday’s Budget – with the measures due to kick in next April.
But Mr Emmerson said this was a reduction in the dividend income tax free allowance from £5,000 to £2,000 – meaning there was far less incentive for the wealthy to shift their incomes around.