Tax haven system only benefits the very wealthy

Your editorial “Hiding wealth in tax havens is profoundly antisocial and unfair. It must stop” (8 October) seems remarkably tame: “… refusing to pay their share towards the services and resources …” should be coupled with the advantage taken in their being able to create their wealth in the more or less conducive social and economic societies funded by the mug taxpayers who do support their own country. Such betrayal of the rest of us might equally be described as treason.

David Blest

Dilston, Tasmania, Australia

• UK chancellor Rishi Sunak says that “any further spending pledges will need to be funded by tax rises rather than borrowing”. Let’s start with the people named in the Pandora papers and change the laws that let them stash their assets offshore so they pay little, if any, tax, while the unfortunate 95+% of the world’s population are taxed on every penny they earn. However, as many of the people able to clean up tax systems are enmeshed in these invidious practices, nothing will happen very soon, or ever. Liz Thomas Takaka, New Zealand

• Opinion has two articles about social responsibility: the editorial on tax havens, and (re Covid-19 vaccination) that there has to be a “balance between individual and collective rights”. The unvaccinated are fuelling recurrent Covid waves.

Is it time for such choices to have socialbenefit consequences? Those with tax haven accounts forfeit pension, social security and health care rights as their actions indicate non-support for these schemes?

Should vaccine refusal be registered, so that any treatment registrants need for Covid reasons, could be billed to them personally? Should vaccines produced for future pandemics be reserved for the willing from the present one? Is it time for tough love? Anthony Walter Coldstream, British Columbia, Canada