Shrinking tax base suggests personal allowance is generous enough

HMRC expects 364,000 workers to be paying the top 45% rate by 2018, 50% more than seven years ago.At first glance, the latest income tax figures from HMRC make encouraging reading for anyone who believes in equality.Since 2013/14, around 300,000 people on low incomes no longer pay the 20p basic rate of tax, mostly thanks to the annual increases in the threshold at which people start paying income tax implemented by the previous government and the coalition before it.