RAPID RESPONSES
Land in sight
[Re: Rebalancing taxes towards consumption will let our thwarted youth flourish, yesterday]
VAT is not a tax on consumption – it is carried primarily by the producer, reducing economic activity. If a business can sell widgets at £10 and be profitable, but not at £12, that business is destroyed. Far better to tax something of fixed supply so that it cannot be withdrawn or hidden. Land is the only real example of this.
James Fisher
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Truth to power
[Re: Budget could be surprisingly radical, Monday]
I’m sure City types would like to see the 50 per cent tax rate go, but think realistically. I agree that for half your income to be taken seems draconian, but it’s the kind of measure governments are driven to when any attempt to make things fairer by less blunt routes (like limiting tax avoidance) has been met with aggressive lobbying by the City and the banks.
Chris Fuller