An Update On An Earlier Story: British Millionaires Leaving (NOT ABOUT THE BAKKEN)

A few days ago I posted a story about millionaires leaving Britain due to the punishing tax rates. Someone sent in a comment that said the story was bogus: I didn't post the comment because it did not provide a credible source. Today in the Wall Street Journal, we get more specific numbers:

A funny thing often happens on the way to soaking the rich: They don't stick around for the bath.

Take Britain, where Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs Service reports that the number of taxpayers declaring £1 million a year in income fell by more than 60% in fiscal 2010-2011 from the year before.  

That was the year that millionaires became liable for the 50% income-tax rate that Gordon Brown's government introduced in its final days in 2010, up from the previous 40% rate. Lo, the total number of millionaire tax filers plunged to 6,000 in 2010-2011, from 16,000 in 2009-2010.

The new tax was meant to raise about £2.5 billion more revenue. So much for that. In 2009-2010 British millionaires contributed about £13.4 billion to the public coffers, or just under 9% of the total tax liability of all taxpayers that year. At the 50% rate, the shrunken pool yielded £6.5 billion, or about 4.4%.

If you can't trust Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs Service, just who can you trust?