Foot drain

It was just the other day when leading taxaholic Richard Murphy was rent-a-quoted as saying the following regarding the flight of individuals before facing taxation oblivion:

"Every time there is a threat to the rich that they will be taxed a little bit more, we have no evidence that they've actually left," Murphy said. "You are in the UK economy because it's a great place to make money. It's also quite a cool place to live."

The very same article chronicles a slate of firms already fleeing the taxman, thus refuting Murphy's thesis (never a difficult task). One wonders if incentives matter to the individual as well? Looks to be on their minds too:

Manchester United striker Cristiano Ronaldo - who earns a reputed £125,000-a-week - would face an increase of about £670,000 a year in his tax bill under the new rate of 50p in the pound.

Others who would be affected include Chelsea stars Frank Lampard, who earns £140,000 a week, his team-mate John Terry (£135,000), Liverpool's Steven Gerrard (£120,000) and Manchester United's Wayne Rooney (£115,000).

In Europe, although players are paid less than in the Premier League, their take-home pay is in some cases higher because of lower income tax rates. In Spain the top tax rate is only 25 per cent, in France it is 40 per cent, in Italy 43 per cent and in Germany it is 45 per cent.

You know you are in trouble when Germany's 45 per cent rate looks attractive. "No evidence" continues to mount.