It is reported that the chancellor of the exchequer recently went to a performance of The Importance of Being Earnest. I wonder if she reflected on these lines spoken by Lady Bracknell: ‘What between the duties expected of one during one’s lifetime and the duties exacted from one after one’s death land has ceased to be either a profit or a pleasure. It gives one position and prevents one from keeping it up. That’s all that can be said about land.’
Oscar Wilde seems to have summed up the debate on the abolition of agricultural property relief in a nutshell.
The taxation of land has always been controversial. Wilde’s play was first produced in February 1895 which was less than a year after the 1894 budget in which the chancellor – hands up who can name him – announced a new system of taxing estates on death abolishing...
Please reach out to customer services at +44 (0) 330 161 1234 or 'customer.services@lexisnexis.co.uk' for further assistance.
