In an editorial letter for City A.M., Alaister Heath discusses the findings from the Centre for Policy Studies recent publication on the Mansion Tax.
“…As a report by the Centre for Policy Studies argues, George Osborne should shut a loophole which allows some foreigners not to pay stamp duty – but he shouldn’t tax homeowners more. The UK already has the highest property tax take of any OECD country (raising 4.2 per cent of GDP, compared to the OECD average of 1.8 per cent), something that those who wish to “rebalance” the tax system towards wealth and away from income forget. The rich already pay a great deal: the top 1.6 per cent of property sales yielded £1.2bn in 2010, 26 per cent of all stamp duty; the five per cent duty band will yield an extra £290m; the top 0.7 per cent of homes contributes 36 per cent of inheritance tax from residential property; expensive band H homes account for 0.6 per cent of total properties but pay 1.2 per cent of council tax.”
Click here to view the full article on the City A.M. website
Date Added: Monday 5th March 2012
