IEA Editorial Director Kristian Niemietz has been quoted in The Daily Telegraph responding to reports that the new government is considering extending VAT to private healthcare payments.

Kristian said:

“People who use private healthcare make less demands on the NHS, thus taking pressure off it, and saving taxpayer money. Instead of penalising those people through the tax system, the government should, on the contrary, tax them more lightly, to recognise those savings. This does not have to be done through the VAT system, but it should be done somewhere – and preferably to a greater extent than now.”

Read the full article here.