This week's opinion

Sam Dewes’ article ‘Domicile difficulties’ on page 8 is a good example of how the tax regime needs constantly to adapt to reflect changes in society. It is extraordinary looking back to remember that independent taxation of married couples was introduced as late as 1990. Many people will remember that HMRC staff were instructed to write to a woman’s husband if they needed to communicate with his wife. It seems scarcely believable that during all but the last few months of Margaret Thatcher’s premiership Denis Thatcher had legal responsibility for her tax affairs. Go back a few more years and we really are in a different world. I keep a copy of the 1918 Taxes Act on my shelf at work. This is partly to show colleagues how little legislation there was then – it is one slim volume – but also to astonish them by pointing out...