Sir: 'Death and taxes' (3 February) had me smiling. I
could almost imagine the writer baiting his hook for an outraged letter with such tempting morsels as 'the hardly enor- mous sum of L118,000'. Dismissing the redistributive purpose of inheritance tax in an 11-line paragraph could also be counted on to fill the letters pages.
The fact remains that the vast majority of the nation's wealth is still in the hands of a minority. Individuals may have an 'adequate start in life' in respect of earning a salary but they never get a look-in on the nation's assets. Taxing of income merely reinforces the status quo by preventing wage earners from building up a capital base, which is why other forms of redis- tributive taxation are also needed.
I agree that inheritance tax can produce anomalies. It should be abolished at the earliest possible date, and replaced with wealth tax.
Richard Wynne C/o 32 Bluebridge Avenue, Brookmans Park,
Hatfield, Hertfordshire
Previous page
