In an interview to The Guardian, Clegg said he wanted a "time-limited contribution" from the richest.
"We need to really hard-wire fairness into what we do in the next phases of fiscal restraint. If we don’t do that I don’t think the process will be either socially or politically sustainable or acceptable," he told The Guardian.
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It was necessary for the affluent to make that extra contribution to maintain a "cohesive and prosperous" society. His ideas include a new anti-avoidance drive and an attempt to prevent the most wealthy using tax breaks.
He added that the tax would fall on wealth rather than income, saying: "The action is making sure that very high asset wealth is reflected in the tax system in the way that it isn’t now, making sure that we continue to crack down very hard on tax avoidance, making sure that tax breaks don’t go disproportionately to people at the very top."
However, George Osborne, chancellor of the exchequer, quickly rejected the idea, warning that the government should be wary of scaring off wealthy people.
"I am clear that the wealthy should pay more," Osborne said. "But we also have to be careful as a country we don’t drive away wealth creators and the businesses that are going to lead our economic recovery."
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