The future of the 50% top rate of income tax has generated intense debate in the run-up to the Budget. Business leaders want the chancellor to scrap it, saying it penalises entrepreneurs, while some experts say it does not raise extra money because wealthy taxpayers find ways to avoid the top rate.

But unions say that, when millions of households were facing a squeeze on living standards, it was the wrong time to offer tax breaks for the richest in society. Chief economics correspondent Hugh Pym reports.

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