With the introduction of the Office of Tax Simplification, the government has proclaimed a commitment to increasing the predictability, stability and simplicity of the UK tax system. We welcome this, especially as the absence of these three features from the current UK tax system damages the interests of both individuals and businesses alike.

Unfortunately, the idea of a graduate tax – which seemed to have been scrapped but has now been endorsed by the universities minister – appears to lack any of these desirable features.

For example, the proposal seems to be based on the idea that double taxation is good. If graduates earn more than non-graduates during their working lives, then under the current system they will pay more tax. Imposing an extra layer of taxation on graduates may be a convenient fiscal expedient in tough times, but it is hardly the basis for a sustainable tax measure.

One of the principal weaknesses of the proposal is its failure to identify a workable, clear target. For example, a graduate and a non-graduate may do the same work in the same company for the same salary. Yet the graduate will pay more tax. How can that be equitable?

And what about graduates who choose no-pay or low-paid occupations such as child rearing or working in the voluntary sector? These are all important components of 'Big Society' which would suffer under a uniform graduate tax.

Will the tax only be charged on graduates of UK universities who make a career in the UK? Enforcing a tax on UK graduates who choose to work abroad will be impossible, but failure to do so may encourage a 'brain drain'. And taxing graduates of overseas universities who work in the UK will be seen as discriminatory. Yet somehow EU rules also have to be complied with.

Finally, the suggestion of retrospection raises the impossible question of how far to go back to recoup the costs of providing quality education for future generations.

Adequate and stable university funding is key to the future success of the UK. The subject deserves to be addressed with a more meritorious proposal than this.