Inheritance tax: Change must be fair

As expected, the leader of the opposition was all negative when he replied to the budget speech the other day. Once again, he stated all the things we must achieve, such as the need to reduce the deficit and trim the public sector, but he could offer no ideas on how to meet these targets.

In other words, after so many years in opposition, Labour is able to identify the problems (as can most readers of The Times!) but it is either incapable or unwilling to identify the big question. How?

They think all services should be maintained, indeed enhanced, but that there should be no increased payments for them. Is it true that almost half the population are in receipt of one form of benefit or other? If so, my "pocket money culture" opinion piece was even truer than I thought!

Everything will come from this magical term - inward investment. That is why the poll rating on Xarabank didn't surprise me. People may be annoyed with the Nationalist Party but they're not enamoured of Labour either. So, the PN were actually still a couple of percentage points ahead of MLP even after the budget!

And will Jason Micallef ensure that Labour supporters behave less like a mob? Their behaviour in the last programme was hardly edifying. This inability to listen to each other, particularly from Labour's end, must stop.

Now I know why writers like myself and others have annoyed old MLP so much, in the past at least. When, in such programmes, it is Eddie Fenech Adami's turn to talk, these Labour people interrupt and even heckle him at times, making us unable to get his point well. But they cannot interrupt the written language, can they? Readers have time to understand and digest what they read, whether or not they agree with what they are reading.

In this supposedly free and democratic country, we should at least have the manners to listen to each other.

The reintroduction of inheritance tax is probably the big surprise in the budget and a very unwanted one too. One of the better things about our taxation system was that, at least, you did not have to pay taxes on what your parents had already saved and paid tax on. But revenue has to come from somewhere and it is true to say that some form of inheritance tax exists almost everywhere. However, any change must be fair. Change must also be seen to be thought through and fair.

It would be far better and more palatable if this new tax were to be introduced for all new inheritances from, say, January 1. People who have already inherited a property and made their own calculations, perhaps even signing a temporary agreement to buy elsewhere, should not be shortchanged like this. It is grossly unfair.

If you were expecting to receive, say, Lm40,000 from your share of your parents' property and have signed a temporary agreement to buy property for Lm40,000, you should not suddenly be made to lose out. You could even be a pensioner unable to get a loan!

There is another issue tied to this. It is the number of the many inherited properties left empty because there is no incentive to sell. Why not make one concession in this budget in order to make a positive impact on our vacant dwellings and not only to appease natural grumblers?

Why not apply this inheritance tax to all new inheritances from January 1?

As regards properties in the process of being inherited or already inherited, the owners and the hard-working families who inherited them should be given a reasonable period of time in which to sell, after which the tax would have to be paid. In this way, some property would be put on the market and this would, hopefully, slow down the increasing number of vacant properties.

As the situation stands now, if I were an owner who has inherited property, I would just hold on to it until perhaps a new government abolishes the inheritance tax again! It would be an easy electoral pledge for Labour to make and a real vote winner too!

As it is, this measure will not only lose votes for the party in government but it will increase the stock of housing that is not used - an already badly wasted resource in this country.

And if the government does have to introduce inheritance tax, it should make it a flat rate and not one based on the people's tax levels. It is grossly unfair to have to give a third of your inheritance to any government.

It would be fairer if the government were to impose a flat rate of 15 per cent, as in the case of investments. A concession can go a long way, bearing in mind the typical Nationalist voter, the family oriented person who works hard and who does not expect it all from the government.