I've never understood why a musician, writer or artist should pay less in tax than a bus driver, nurse or computer programmer. If someone is struggling to make a living as an artist, then their income will be so low that they will owe very little in tax anyway. But, if we're talking about a member of a world famous rock band, successful movie director or best-selling author, I cannot grasp why they should pay less in taxes than the rest of us.
Angelique Chrisafis, writing in this morning's Guardian, claims that film-makers are up in arms because the Minister for Finance plans to eliminate this exemption for the film industry in Wednesday's budget. Apparently the film-makers are "up in arms" at the thought of having to pay taxes.
Well, I'm "up in arms" that this exemption exists and I demand that Charlie McCreevy remove this exemption for all these people, not just the film industry.
