Mansion tax is the tax of the moment. It is Britain’s first new fiscal idea since the poll tax in 1989, and is proving no less controversial. Angelina Jolie, Sol Campbell, Myleene Klass and Peter Mandelson are in opposition. A recent ComRes poll showed 70% of MPs of all parties against it – including 90% of Tories, who instead favour council tax reform– as are all Labour’s candidates for mayor of London. Yet Ed Miliband and Ed Balls are determined to proceed.
Few people yet have much idea what a mansion tax is or what it implies for its victims, most of whom it reduces to hysteria. In collaboration with the LSE’s local finance expert, Tony Travers, we have tried to assess its impact on a range of properties. The findings broadly accord with studies from estate agents Savills, Hometrack and Knight Frank. Valuations are based on Zoopla figures.
The case for council tax reform was stifled by an aversion to anything that might recall the poll tax trauma
How Balls achieves his £1.2bn from a mansion tax is a mystery. Other estimates suggest little more than £150m
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