Dr. Barra Roantree:

Exactly, so if we were to exclude them, it is very difficult to see how we could do it in a fair way. I would also add that if we try to tax wealth while excluding property and land, what we will do is bias the system towards that even further. We know that we already have a system which is biased towards the holding of property and land and that is one of the things that contributes to, and exacerbates, the cyclical nature of the housing market. If we were to introduce a wealth tax that excludes property, we would end up in a situation where we would be encouraging people even more to invest in property, land and houses. That could go against our other objectives, particularly in terms of what we are trying to achieve through our housing policy.