UK hires extra tax collectors to police super-rich

[September 19, 2011]  LONDON (AP) -- Let the audits begin.

As the U.K. tightens its belt amid continued economic uncertainty, a senior government official says he's adding more than 2,000 extra tax inspectors to make sure that Britain's wealthiest feel the squeeze.

The British Treasury's Chief Secretary Danny Alexander told the Sunday Independent newspaper that his priority was "making sure that those with broadest shoulders bear their fair share of the burden."

Alexander says that a 100-member "affluence team" will be in place in less than a month to keep an eye on the country's wealthiest taxpayers -- the estimated 350,000 people whose personal wealth exceeds 2.5 million pounds ($3.95 million).

[Associated Press]

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