Labour’s proposal for a new ‘Mansion Tax’ has been called a ‘political stunt’ to avoid council tax reform by the British Property Federation (BPF).
BPF said the proposal, due to be announced this afternoon by Ed Miliband, would have ‘minimal’ impact on NHS budgets and any revenue raised would be ‘cancelled out’ by the loss in taxation in other areas.
Ian Fletcher, director of policy at the BPF, said: ‘There is recognition in our industry that council tax on high-end property is low, and with no revaluation since 1991, in desperate need of reform. Instead of responsible reform, however, we get a Mansion Tax, and a political stunt, which has been used before.
‘Raising taxes to save the NHS is a tactic Labour used in the early noughties, when national insurance rates were increased to save the NHS. Labour obviously calculates that associating a policy with the NHS will make it popular, but there is no obvious link and a much better use of any available funds would be to spend them on access to housing, thereby improving peoples’ health outcomes.’
In his keynote speech, Miliband is expected to say a ‘Mansion Tax’ on homes worth more than £2m would raise £1.7bn a year, which would be used to increase spending on the NHS.
The Liberal Democrats have long been calling for the new tax of 1% to be levied on luxury homes.
