There’s less than a month until Chancellor Rachel Reeves unveils her autumn budget and speculation is abounding about what taxes will make the cut. This morning, Housing Secretary Steve Reed came under pressure on LBC, as interviewer Nick Ferrari grilled him on the introduction of a possible mansion tax. Anxious homeowners will not be reassured by Reed’s response – after the Labour man refused four times to rule out a mansion tax. How curious…
There have been suggestions that that the Chancellor could impose a 1 per cent tax on the portion of property values over £2 million. Those owning homes worth £3 million would pay £10,000 a year, with £4 million properties giving rise to a tax of £20,000 a year and so on. If the levy were to be introduced it would hit households in the capital city hard – but homeowners hoping for clarity will have been left disappointed this morning after Reed was more than a little reticent to discuss his thoughts on the property tax.
‘I’ve seen some of the speculation about this and it’s never a good idea for a minister to come in and speculate,’ he told Ferrari the first time he was probed. When pushed he added: ‘You are asking me to speculate, given that we’ve got the budget coming up soon.’ On the third go, Reed responded: ‘It’s best for me not to answer that question. It’ll sound like I’m giving the Chancellor advice on what she should or shouldn’t do – and that’s not a good idea for a minister.’ Fourth time lucky? Not quite. Reed told LBC: ‘We do need to wait and see. The Chancellor will be announcing her full tax strategy and the full tax reforms coming forward in the budget.’
That clears it up, eh?
Meanwhile, as the Telegraph reports, uncertainty over the issue has frozen London’s property market. The paper reports that sellers likely to be affected by the rumoured tax are slashing their asking prices to offload homes, while buyers of homes worth more than £2 million are now pulling out. What a mess…
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