Rapid Responses
Vaguely taxing
[RE: Taxation shouldn’t be determined by subjective opinions of fairness, Tuesday]
It is interesting that recent developments in political circles have redefined the basis upon which tax policy is to be developed. A poorly thought-out policy will cause more harm than good. In the case of the mansion tax, it is a double taxation and ignores the very essence of fairness. As the attraction of foreign investments into the UK is focused around multinational companies, an alignment of tax policies to attract high net worth individuals could be more beneficial to the economy, as most high net worths have influence on multinational decision making. Can fairness in itself be a good foundation for the advancement of tax policy? Yes it can, but not based on politicians’ definition. If we were truly interested in fairness, then we would need to address all of the unfair policies.
Peter Caine
There is a cruel irony when we use the word fairness – in any capacity – when talking about anything to do with UK taxation. Our tax system is anything but fair and it is destroying all incentives to create wealth in this domicile. No wonder the likes of the former Conservative peer, Baron Bagri, are allegedly moving their businesses to low tax domiciles to avoid paying extortionate rates of tax in this country.
Anand Gondhia