Osborne pledges Budget blow to tax dodgers

The Chancellor refused to be drawn on any of the headline changes in the package he will announce on Wednesday but denied that he was still at loggerheads with the Liberal Democrats.

Most of the major decisions had been agreed almost a week ago between senior figures from the coalition partners and final details signed off on Friday, he told BBC1’s Andrew Marr Show.

He is widely reported to be ready to meet Tory demands for a reduction in the 50p top rate of income tax – a politically toxic move as spending cuts bite across the country.

Shadow Chancellor Ed Balls MP for Morley and Outwood in West Yorkshire, said that showed the Government was woefully out of touch with voters, calling for the money to be used instead to halt cuts in working tax credits but Mr Osborne said his overall blueprint was “a Budget for working people”.

“What you will see on Wednesday is a Budget for working people, a Budget that shows Britain can earn its way in the world, a Budget that says Britain is not content with being in the second rank of economic powers.

“We want to be in the front rank of economic powers and we are prepared to confront our problems to create jobs, growth and prosperity and a brighter future for the next generation.” He went on: “The bulk of the measures in the Budget are going to be targeted at working people on low and middle incomes. That is our priority.”

Mr Osborne pledged to “come down like a tonne of bricks” on wealthy people who sell properties through offshore companies to avoid stamp duty.

Celebrities are said to be among those employing the loophole but it is also a trick of wealthy foreigners with homes in London.

“People want to make sure that all sections of society are paying their fair share,” he said. “On this specific issue of stamp duty avoidance, rich people – often foreigners who come to this country but also people here in Britain – who put homes into companies to avoid stamp duty, that is completely unacceptable and we are going to come down on that practice like a tonne of bricks. We are going to be extremely aggressive in dealing with it and people are going to face a very punitive charge.

“People have had their warning: they have got to pay stamp duty on the homes they live in.”

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