If taxing the rich is so fraught, maybe we need a rethink

Owning large tracts of valuable land is no longer confined to an ancient aristocracy. Photograph: Alamy

Taxing the better-off is not going to be easy. For one thing, no one can agree on how to go about it. Thinktanks have put forward various proposals, usually targeting individual wealth.

Voices across the political spectrum agree with the need for such a move. Free-market economists are just as worried about the excessive accumulation of personal capital as those on the left.