Call to introduce 'fairer' property tax

摘要

The Institute of Public Policy Research (IPPR) has called for a new 'proportional' property tax to replace the 'unfair and outdated' council tax. In a new report, the left-leaning think-tank argued replacing council tax and stamp duty with a local tax based on a proportion of the value of a property would be fairer and more progressive. Instead of property owners paying council tax based upon the current band system they would pay a percentage of the property's value every year. If the tax was levied at 0.5%, a property valued at £200,000 would pay £1,000 a year. Owners of a property worth £1m would pay £5,000 a year. The report's author, IPPR economist Shreya Nanda, pointed out that homeowners have benefitted 'enormously' from house price inflation over the past 40 to 50 years.