Death charge - 'Wouldn't it be better to ditch the tax?'

Published on 29/11/2010 14:11

THERE are, as Benjamin Franklin said, only two certainties in life, and those are death and taxes.

Today we reveal concerns at the city council over a Scottish Government plan to combine the two with a new, universal charge for registering a death.

If the Certification of Death (Scotland) Bill goes ahead, it will cost almost everyone 30 when they formally report a death before plans can be made for a burial or cremation.

If at first this seems like the most callous of charges, there are sound grounds for the change. As things currently stand - and as many unfortunate enough to be recently bereaved will know - it costs 147 for a certificate prior to cremation.

Six out of ten Scots are cremated these days, even though it is possible to get a pre-burial certificate for free, and this can mean a hefty bill for grieving families when they least need or expect it.

A smaller charge for all is more equitable, and another welcome part of the new legislation is a move to make death certificates more accurate, and to have the system scrutinised with spot checks by experts.

In fact, there are only two serious concerns about the plan, one being that expressed by the council's Chief Registrar, that her staff would be expected to collect this "death tax".

The other is a more fundamental point. Even if these changes will improve the situation, wouldn't it be even better to get rid of this tax altogether?

This is not a charge which can be avoided, after all. Nor does it fit the "user pays" philosophy which should guide most taxes. Most of all, it can only intrude into grief.

This isn't a time to increase pressure on the public purse, but the government would do more for general fairness if it axed this universal death tax than it will by cutting prescription fees or guaranteeing free bus travel for OAPs, regardless of ability to pay.

Saint the way to do it

MOST Scots will be well aware that today we celebrate the life of our national saint.

But only a lucky minority will enjoy the holiday decreed for public servants by Alex Salmond. If that already seemed excessive before yesterday, it feels completely over the top after a day when many thousands of working hours were lost to the weather.

But a happy St Andrew's Day, anyway, one and all.