by Phil Pitt

Kent's rich are doing what they can to soften the blow of the new 50 per cent tax band, according to one of the county's biggest accounting firms.

The new band - which came into effect on April 6 - is designed to harvest some £2.4 billion over the course of the next year, and is likely to be paid by some 300,000 people across the UK.

"There are a number of people who will be affected in Kent, perhaps more so in the west of the county, and they will do whatever they can to avoid it," said Ken Jones, a partner with Canterbury-based Burgess Hodgson.

"Many of these people have already been asking for advice, in fact, they have been doing so since the legislation was announced."

One way of getting round the impact of the extra tax band might have been for high-earners to increase their pension contributions, but the government has closed this loophole by restricting higher rate tax relief for those earning more than £130,000.

"Those who are self-employed or who own their own businesses will look at other ways to avoid the tax."

Mr Jones says the danger of raising tax will always be that returns fall short of expectations as people work ever harder to avoid paying it.

"The danger is that, together with National Insurance, the total tax rate is over 50 per cent which is a tipping point where people question whether it's worth paying the tax and do everything they can to avoid doing so," said Mr Jones.

"Historically, when Margaret Thatcher came to power in 1979, the upper tax rate was 98 per cent; she reduced this to 60 per cent but actually saw a rise in the amount of money coming in. It was reduced further to 40 per cent in 1988 and, again, the tax take increased.

"The current view is that at more than 50 per cent, people don't really want to pay it and people who hadn't previously thought about tax avoidance measures will be scrutinising them much more closely."