England also has the best Government Money can Buy.....

Treasury reveals how little tax the super-rich pay

The extent of tax avoidance by Britain's super-rich has been revealed with the release of Treasury figures showing that almost a thousand UK taxpayers earning more than £1m a year have a tax rate of less than 30% of their income.

In an effort to get back on the political front foot over the budget, including its plans to impose a cap on tax reliefs, the Treasury also revealed that of the 200 taxpayers earning more than £10m a year, 12 are paying less than 10% in tax.

It is the first time the Treasury has published such comprehensive figures showing the tax rates of the super-rich. The figures formed the backdrop to the chancellor, George Osborne's recent admission that he had been "shocked" at statistics shown to him revealing the way in which the British super-rich use reliefs and legal schemes to avoid tax.

The Treasury has been on the defensive for more than a week over plans announced in the budget to cap the relief philanthropists can receive for charitable giving. Under the plans, to be introduced from 2013, previously uncapped tax reliefs – including on charitable donations – would be capped at £50,000 or 25% of income, if higher. The plan – billed ahead of the budget as a populist tycoon tax – has since gone disastrously wrong, as the Conservative press reported the plan as an assault on charitable giving.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2012/apr/15/treasury-reveals-super-rich-tax-rates?CMP=twt_fd

The Rich Get Even Richer

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/26/opinion/the-rich-get-even-richer.html?_r=1