Christopher Tolkien: kill HOBBIT film

[Mithalwen]

Originally Posted by Sauron the White

While not being a tax accountant or attorney, I do know this much: you never have to pay income tax unless you first generate the income. JRRT - God bless him - generated lots of income. He took the profit sharing checks and cashed them and spent them. And then the tax came due and surprise surprise - no money was left. I do not think he was all by himself in that line.

I think that you are missing the point that the tax rate was potentially over 100% ie he was expected to pay more than he had actually earnt. Which is not something most of us could cope with especially without the benefit of collateral.
. It isn't quite the same as me knowing that when I receive my dividends I should put aside 10-20% for the bill that will arrive at Christmas. He didn't just go mad at Blackwells or anywhere. This was a man who had worked hard and struggled to feed and educate his family, who lived in a modest house with very basic amenities in Oxford, hit by a punitive tax regime from a Labour Government that was actually socialist and was trying to redistribute wealth as well as shore up a dire economy. To make a man who lived as frugally as Tolkien seem a irresponsible spendthrift while wilfully ignoring the reality of the situation is neither fair nor charitable.