Nothing to fear?
Sir: I rather enjoyed reading Tessa Mayes’s anxious tirade about the imminent arrival of Big Brother (‘Big Brother is coming’, 3 March), although perhaps not for reasons of which she would approve. During my 88 years of life so far (in at least 44 of which income tax at between 40 and 83 per cent has been levied on part of my earnings), I have never met any self-employed person who has not admitted to ‘fiddling’ his or her tax return as a matter of routine. If, as Tessa Mayes now claims, HMRC is being much more aggressive and — dare we say it? — astute in pursuit of those who manage their own tax affairs, I stand ready to lead the applause.
Exotic dancers apart, surely all of us enjoying the freedoms of a democratic society recognise that one of the prime duties of an elected government is to protect the majority of its citizens (who pay income tax in advance, refrain from dropping litter or supplying alcohol to children, support their local councils’ attempts to rationalise refuse collection and accept ‘arbitrary surveillance’ by authorised officials) against those who refuse to accept any of these constraints.
Tessa Mayes appears to sympathise with the latter and seeks to raise the spectre of ‘a foot in the door’, with all its implications of forced entry. This is designed to frighten ordinary taxpayers into believing that they, too, face the threat now being directed at people who are not paying their way. For most of us, there is no threat of ‘a foot in the door’, because the door will always be open to legitimate inquiry by those with nothing to hide.
John Duthie
Gullane, East Lothian
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