The burden of VAT

Letters to the Editor

SIR - David Hartnett, the chief tax collector, claims that paying cash in hand is "diddling the country" (report, January 27). This shows how out of touch mandarins are when it comes to the severely over-stretched incomes of average families.

Perhaps if Mr Hartnett earned the average wage and found that his roof was leaking, his windows were rotten or his boiler needed replacing, he would take a different view.

Would he pay 20 per cent VAT on essential repairs? What deprive us of the public services we deserve and have paid for are government waste and vanity projects.

Stefan Reszczynski

Margate, Kent

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