Accountancy Age has reported that:

The Institute for Fiscal Studies says fresh 'albeit tentative' evidence has revealed ratcheting up income tax rates for those earning more than £100,000 is likely to be counter-productive.

Actually, I'd agree that ratcheting rates may not help, but that is, not the way to raise more tax from the rich in any event. But this is not even the issue of importance, because the Accountancy Age headline was:

The Institute of Fiscal Studies says increasing tax for the rich is unlikely to raise extra revenue

That is the issue of this blog. Tax is not just about raising revenue. There are five reasons for raising revenue (four ably summarised by Alex Cobham of Christian Aid and formerly at Oxford University, the fifth added by me):

1) Revenue raising

2) Repricing goods to correct market imperfections

3) Redistributing wealth

4) Representation of the relationship between government and the governed

5) Reorganisation of an economy by use of fiscal policy

If this is the case (and even monetarists are calling for the resumption of fiscal policy right now, for example) then to spin the IFS report in the way Accountancy Age has done is wrong. Higher effective rates of tax are needed on the wealthiest in our society to ensure that revenue is raised, without doubt, but also to ensure that wealth is redistributed, that the wealthiest do not have excess resources to inappropriately distort markets (as they have with housing, for example), and to ensure that ordinary people are not alienated from the tax system whilst at the same time ensuring the tax system is effective enough to ensure fiscal policy can work. That's why this issue is important. That's why being too narrow minded on tax does not help.