Published in the Haslemere Herald    12 Oct 07

The cost of 'hassle'

Sir, - In costing a new system of curtailed Inheritance Tax, the Conservatives have not pointed out that administrative costs would be dramatically cut. This would lead to a substantial reduction in hassle, with many people not having to fill in Inheritance Tax forms. There would be no need to print and distribute so many of the forms, and process and store them once completed.

   It remains a great challenge to try to quantify the costs of hassle, but ignoring the effect is tantamount to setting these costs at zero, which is wrong.

   Looking at the indirect costs of particular taxes, and doing away with those that cost a lot to collect, and which involve lots of hassle, would in general free up the country and make it more productive. This would allow government to find a way to see that the Postal Service has enough money to pay the postmen.

   Like our soldiers, postmen do a great job and should be kept happy in their work.

Dr Charles Warner
Hindhead