A great deal of the progress has been lost, however, as a consequence of the fact that more than one-third of taxpayers will be paying the 42% rate by the end of 2003. This arises directly from the failure to increase tax bands and tax credits. Despite the large increases in the bands and credits last year, an additional 70,000 people were brought into the higher tax bracket for the first time. I accept that the percentage of taxpayers paying the higher rate decreased from 32% in the 1999-2000 to 27% in 2002.