Eric Pickles reveals split in coalition over Lib Dems ‘mansion tax’

Communities secretary labels proposals for tax on expensive property – championed by Lib Dems – a ‘very big mistake’ Eric Pickles, the communities secretary, has highlighted a rift in the government’s Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition by describing proposals for a so-called “mansion tax” on expensive property as “a very big mistake”. He said that the idea, which is being actively championed by Liberal Democrats, would hit “many ordinary middle-class families” because of the high property prices in some areas of the country. “We as a government have got to understand middle-class families put a lot into this country and don’t take a lot out. It would be a very big mistake to start imposing taxation on the back of changes in property values, particularly with big regional variations,” he told The Daily Telegraph. “People will suddenly find themselves in a mansion and they hadn’t realised it was a mansion. If it is only going to be mansions, the kind of thing you and I would regard as a mansion, it ain’t going to raise very much.” Before the election the Lib Dems proposed a so-called “mansion tax” worth 1% on homes worth more than £2m. The proposal did not make it into the coalition agreement. But it has not been forgotten and in his speech to the Lib Dem conference last year, Vince Cable, the business secretary, said that, given the difficulty of raising taxes on income in a world of mobile labour, “a progressive alternative is to shift the tax base to property and land”. In his budget in March George Osborne, the chancellor, said the government would be be “redoubling our efforts to find ways of ensuring that owners of high-value property cannot avoid paying their fair share”. Conservative ministers played down the significance of this announcement, but Lib Dems have presented this as evidence that a “mansion tax” of some kind is still on the agenda. Some Tories are in favour too. In an article in the Guardian this week, Tim Montgomerie, editor of the ConservativeHome website, backed the proposal. Liberal-Conservative coalition Tax and spending Eric Pickles Liberal Democrats Tax Andrew Sparrow guardian.co.uk

Posted by on August 19, 2011. Filed under News, Politics, World News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.