Susan Thomas, Oxford

Wednesday, 13 May 2015

Published in OXFORD TIMES and OXFORD MAIL

Sir

I am writing further to a defense made for its charitable status by Oxford University in relation to its obstinate stance on altering the height of the ugly buildings on Port Meadow.

The charitable status does not exonerate nor excuse the hideous error.

Furthermore, any accountant will advise that most educational establishments such as fee paying schools and colleges become registered charities.

This is purely for tax reasons.
Charities do not have to pay Council tax, nor do they pay capital gains taxes on second or multiple properties.

Indeed there are a lot of financial perks associated with charitable status.

I once shared a joke with a senior tax inspector who joked that he was now the trustee of his canteen charity at work in order to minimise his own tax bill.

Therefore Oxford University cannot use this charitable status as an excuse to avoid repairing their Castle Mill building mistake.

If anything the argument goes against them as this status maximises their financial position.

They can thus easily afford to rectify a development that will blight the historic views of Oxford for generations to come.