Sir, As a former Liberal parliamentary candidate, I was horrified by Vince Cable’s move to tax people with a home valued at more than £1 million (report, Sept 22). This is pure lunacy as it begs endless questions about house values, how big the owner’s mortgage is, what may be secured against it and the penniless widow who has a tiny pension but relies on the family house as her capital asset.

Bricks and mortar are unlike vast salaries and inflated bonuses. If you tax someone on their salary or bonus, the PAYE system cushions the blow because the individual sees only the net amount. Having to raise loans to pay taxes is totally illiberal and should never have featured in Lib Dem thinking, particularly when the party says that local income tax would be fairer than the current rating system. Keep inheritance tax, but do not make it an annual event during someone’s lifetime.

What the Lib Dems must do before the next election to attract voters is to make it clear that anyone with a salary of more than £250,000 will start paying tax at 60 per cent and any bonuses will attract an additional “bonus tax” on a sliding scale starting at 40 per cent on bonuses of up to £25,000, 50 per cent on bonuses between £25,000 and £50,000, 60 per cent on bonuses between £50,000 and £100,000, 70 per cent on bonuses between £100,000 and £250,000, and 80 per cent on bonuses above £250,000. Keep it short, keep it simple and do not tax people on bricks and mortar. If the tax on houses valued at more than £1 million is not dropped rapidly, I, as a lifelong Liberal, will be voting Conservative next time.

Alastair Brett

London SW6

Sir, The Lib Dems’ proposed tax on mansions fails to recognise the reality faced by many pensioners. Family homes in London acquired by people with modest incomes 30 years ago may now fall into the £1 million-plus bracket just as their owners’ carefully accrued savings are producing minimal returns.

Is it equitable that they should receive a second hit by having to find £5,000-plus each year for the privilege of staying in familiar and much loved surroundings? Not being entitled to benefits, they will need a similar amount of cash to produce the return to pay the tax after paying tax on the income.

Geoffrey Silman

London NW3

Sir, The Lib Dems’ proposal is a wealth tax in disguise. Once in, there will be no stopping it. Vince Cable moves from being the most trusted politician in Britain to the most dangerous.

Ken Clay,

Mudeford, Dorset

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