The 50% additional rate of income tax remains on taxable incomes above £150,000, but this rate reduces to 45% on 6 April 2013. This means that those who are able to defer income from 2012/13 to 2013/14 could benefit from a 5% or more reduction in the tax charged on the amount deferred. This is a key planning area you may wish to discuss with us.
Once again, 50% is not actually the top rate of tax. Those with income of more than £100,000 suffer a withdrawal of their personal allowance. For every £2 over the income limit the personal allowance will reduce by £1, meaning that affected taxpayers will bear a 60% effective rate of tax on a band of income of £16,210.
The income for this purpose is after any reduction for pension contributions and gross charitable donations and so these can be particularly tax efficient, especially when your income is just over £100,000.