Taxing me won’t help the young buy a home of their own
GIVING £10,000 to every 25-year-old in an attempt to balance out the ‘unfairness’ of the generation gap, and for this to be funded by taxing the elderly, is ridiculous. I have looked at the reports published by the Resolution Foundation Intergenerational Commission and it does appear biased against those born just after World War II. Today’s pensioners are wealthier than the elderly of previous generations and that can’t be a bad thing. Government policies over decades have made this possible, so we should rejoice. However, the problems facing millennials are the product of past governments raiding pension pots, inflation and recession. The answer is not to introduce an unfair scheme where one group of people pays more tax than another just because they managed to buy a family home a couple of decades ago. It has always been the case that when you were working your contributions went to pay for the previous generation’s pensions and NHS care, and we accepted that when we reached pension age those who came after us would do the same. We shouldn’t be trying to buy off younger folk because they can’t get on the housing ladder. Instead, the Government should be looking at building affordable housing.
KATHRYN BONDS, London SE19.
I HAVE paid tax on everything I have bought, including tens of thousands on petrol, flights, holidays, school fees, plumbers and painters. When I finally fall off my perch, my dependants will be forced to pay tax on what I leave over a certain limit — a death tax. Now a think tank led by Lord Willetts, who trousers £300 a day whenever he shows up at the House of Lords, expects me to pay more tax to help 25-year-olds. I was never given anything when I left my family home. I didn’t buy takeaway coffees every day, or have a new car and foreign holidays. I worked two jobs in order to climb on to the housing ladder. It was tough, but I managed it. I am dismayed that Lord Willetts wants to take from what little I have saved to hand to younger people to save them from having to work hard. If the old have to fund the young, would he care to start the ball rolling?
WILLIAM BOND, Ilkley, W. Yorks.