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Government accused of 'stealth tax'

Chancellor of the exchequer Alistair Darling has levied a hidden tax on high earners' national insurance payouts, the Daily Mail reports.

In the new Budget, the maximum earnings for national insurance payments to be levied has been raised from £670 to £770 per week.

This equates to people earning over £40,000 per year paying an extra £520 annually.

In total, raising the 'earnings ceiling' will net the government an extra £2 billion a year.

The policy change was not mentioned in Mr Darling's Budget speech to parliament yesterday.

Speaking to the newspaper, Mark Pragnell at economic think-tank CEBR explained: "The [national insurance] claw-back was preannounced, but it is very difficult to find exactly when.

"It will have a disproportionate impact in London because there are more people here earning over £40,000 a year."

Top earners will also be adversely affected by the new £950 'showroom tax' for vehicles which emit a large amount of carbon - an extra charge announced in the Budget speech which will disproportionately affect high-cost cars.

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