YOUR review of the late John Hart’s many achievements (Malvern Gazette, December 9) didn’t mention one of the most important ones, his victory in Pepper (Inspector of Taxes) vs Hart, a taxation case that had implications for taxpayers throughout Britain.
The Treasury tried to make a fundamental, and adverse, change to the way in which an employee is taxed in respect of benefits provided by his or her employer.
It chose to achieve this without bothering to seek the Parliamentary approval which is often so tiresome for bureaucrats.
So it told the then Inland Revenue to pick on someone and establish a rule in case law... a true “stealth tax”.
The Revenue’s big mistake was to pick on John Hart and nine of his colleagues. The case was argued for years, ending up before the House of Lords in 1992... and John Hart won!
That prolonged legal battle must have been very wearing. John Hart stood up to government and we all owe him a debt that we can never repay.Whenever people who love individual freedom meet they should drink a toast to his memory.
ANTHONY WARBURTON
Malvern
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