Sir, – There has been much Government talk about taxing wealthy pensioners.
Pensioners do pay tax in the same manner as all income earners, but they do get free allowances such as electricity, telephone, TV licence and travel.
These allowances can easily be valued and added to income for taxation purposes. That way only those who already pay tax would have to pay. The same system should operate for all allowances including children’s allowance. That way only higher earners would pay the tax and eliminate the need for costly and inefficient means testing. – Yours, etc,