WHETHER or not assertions are bland they at least ought to be accurate; Councillor Eberlie (Letters, December 11) is unguardedly revealing about how a Local Income Tax (LIT) might actually redistribute the burden. The Conservative Leader criticises the following hypothetical proposal:

A household now paying eg £1,200 in Council Tax would instead pay an extra (approximately) 5% of that part of its total income already taxed at the basic rate of 22%. It follows that if this slice of income was £24,000 the household's contribution would remain unaltered. (Together with allowances, starting rate etc, the household's overall income would generally be in excess of £30,000.)

Households with still higher incomes would be disadvantaged by the proposed new arrangement; perhaps this is the real basis of the Conservative Leader's disapproval.

On the other hand, consider the many hard-done-by pensioners recently in the news, who own their houses but who pay little or no basic rate tax anyway and whose comparatively meagre resources debar them from significant council tax relief. It scarcely needs O-level maths to see that they might benefit considerably by the proposed new arrangement, and indeed in some cases avoid local taxation altogether.

However difficult it might be to introduce LIT, this would evidently be much fairer and more progressive than the present system.

J A Medley

Artiscombeleigh

Mill Hill, Tavistock

THE smokescreen being put up by Tories like Dick Eberlie in defence of Council Tax conceals a simple truth about the unfairness of this 'Son of Poll Tax'.

Why should changing the way the money is collected alter what the council spends? Local Income Tax means the Treasury just adds it to their tax bills, instead of us paying the costs of a completely different collection system, and we can forget the whole dismal bureaucracy which administers Council Tax Benefit. It seems likely to save a bob or two . . .

But it isn't about costs, it's about fairness.

Dick tells us that it's a disadvantage of Local Income Tax that households with two earners would contribute a bit more. If he doesn't think that's fair so that the poorest can pay a bit less, it's a useful reminder of why I gave up on the Tory Party.

Nicholas Waterhouse

Meavy

I WOULD like the chance to reply to the letter by Tory Councillor Dick Eberlie about the Lib Dem's plans for a local income tax.

But I have a problem. I do not hold an O-level in mathematics, which Cllr Eberlie seems to think is necessary for anyone to be able to talk on the subject. I must have missed it when such a qualification was made mandatory before one is considered worthy of discussing local politics/taxation.

Still, at least we have educated men of Cllr Eberlie's standing to do all our thinking for us on these most complex of issues. I wonder if he also thinks a good set of O-levels should be compulsory before you are entitled to vote?

How many other voters in West Devon are in the same boat as me? I wonder too how many of those voters find the Tory Councillor's words equally as ridiculous as I do?

Dave Goodwin

Cleave Cottage

Sticklepath