Robert Chote, director of the Institute for Fiscal Studies, contributed an informative article on ?Solutions to the taxing issue of capital gains? in last Sunday?s Times (refer also to Pages/Capital Gains Tax in the righthand column index). The Liberal Democrats consider capital gains tax (CGT) as a good way of raising money for income tax cuts whilst some backbench Tories call raising it to income tax levels an attack on the middle classes and a betrayal of Conservative values. CGT is forecast to raise £2.7 billion this year, only 0.5% of total government revenue but has perhaps a key role in underpinning the much bigger revenues from income tax and National Insurance. He favours the Liberal Democrat approach which also aims to minimise the scope for tax avoidance and, given that the coalition will be forced into many unpopular measures to clear up the inherited fiscal mess over the next few years, recommends taking the opportunity of developing a more rational tax system rather than resorting to short term fixes.