To be scared of Labours Land tax

[Dragongirl10]

Just read about this, Labour are proposing a Land Value Tax on any land owned, could cost thousands a year for anyone even with a small house, not just the rich....they have not publicised this at all.

People with modest homes could be forced to sell or go into debt, or be repossessed...

genevia is right. For every pound taken in additional tax a pound will nit be spent on service industries, meals out, in the shops etc.
So suddenly the low paid waitress finds her services are no longer required. It will have an impact on the economy.

As for people not wishing to work, well I've had a family member shout "but I just don't want to work" and then wondering why we don't give her money.....why should I work to give it others when, no they are tucked up in bed and I'm deicing my car. That's just one example. There are others and I think you can only judge from your own experiences.

I don't think this is scaremongering, labour have said they will consider this in their manifesto, they didn't add it in as a joke.
Because it's posited as a theory it doesn't mean said theory will be implemented.

As for people not wishing to work, well I've had a family member shout "but I just don't want to work" and then wondering why we don't give her money.....why should I work to give it others when, no they are tucked up in bed and I'm deicing my car. That's just one example. There are others and I think you can only judge from your own experiences.

Do you judge all people who don't work on one person who clearly couldn't be arsed to? I'm educated to degree level and can easily earn up to £30k upwards. Instead I'm riddled with several health issues and looking after my autistic son and his sister as a single parent.

Do I sound like someone who can't be arsed?

Therein lies the problem with blanket assumptions.

In a sense we should have a land tax which is higher in places like Newcastle (where I am from) where property is cheaper than in London where we already pay ridiculous amounts of stamp duty on tiny one bed flats

You're looking at it the wrong way around. Lower land tax in places like Newcastle would encourage more people to move themselves/their businesses there. It would help to even things out - it's not good having everything concentrated in London - see all the posts about how expensive it is to live in London.

Without those small pleasures, like watching your children perform in a theatre production or giving your children French lessons outside school or whatever it is you value, what is the point in working hard to pay your way?

Seriously?! Some of you people live on a different planet. For many people those small pleasures are more the level of walking the child to a local park and pushing them on the swings, because, you know it's free, and many (most?) people simply couldn't afford french lessons or drama classes

Genevieva thanks for the additional detail it's always useful to find things out.

I was trying to make a general point about higher taxes not always scaring people away. Your point that New York has a similar rate of taxation to the UK kind of proves it. Are all the 'hard working' people who are planning on leaving the UK if tax goes up a bit heading to NY city or Germany?

awaywiththe....people don't mind helping out people with real health issues, but i don't think the other poster and i are judging 'i can't be bothered to work hard' on just one person. I have loads of relatives who just aren't keen. And so what thats their choice. What I object to is the expectation by the labour gov that i should happily expect to fork out more tax (in both absolute and %age terms) to enable their lifestyle just because my husband and i have always worked hard and earn decent salaries

There are numerous posters going on about "unearned wealth" of house price rises, and, yes, I agree that there have been some pretty lucky pensioners.

But this will hit swathes of people who have mortgages. People who are buying houses in commuter land and paying huge fares too.

As others have observed, yet more taxation will result in fewer sofas purchased, fewer meals eaten out, fewer holidays booked etc etc. And so more people losing jobs.

Or will everyone be employed in the public sector? Interesting.

Dreaming, good point.

What lifestyle is that? I was in employment four weeks after leaving school at 16. Had my last job two years ago. I too have worked hard and clawed my way up. I'm just too poorly to work now.

I'm interested to know what these lifestyles are? Let me guess, do they all drink smoke and have sky tv?

Lady, i agree it is about looking at the bigger picture.

Dawn do you seriously think they won't implement it?

With the NHS being a great big money pit that is on its knees because no one is prepared to have difficult conversations about what can and cannot be afforded. Just standing still requires a 4% increase in NHS funds every year. And that doesn't take into account how poorly paid most of the frontline staff are - junior doctors as well as nurses. IF the NHS was properly funded there would be no money left for anything else at all.

It is lovely to think that simply increasing taxes will mean more money to sort these things out, but the truth is it won't do that. The amount of money in the system will be the same. It will just be spent by the government instead of the tax payer. Doctors and nurses will still be over-worked and stressed, because the incremental year-on-year increase in what is expected of them won't have changed.

What I object to is the expectation by the labour gov that i should happily expect to fork out more tax (in both absolute and %age terms) to enable their lifestyle just because my husband and i have always worked hard and earn decent salaries

Where does the Labour manifesto say they will do this?

They want a fair benefits system for those in genuine need, not a free for all for anyone that fancies it.

lifestyle - didn't work at all, just fancied being a SAHP of school age kids. Or worked PT, just the hours to get working tax credits. Or would only take local jobs, wouldn't take any qualifications or train, or responsibility. Lots who don't like any responsibility at all, decline promotions or any jobs requiring anything more than a 5 min car journey. Or cause they could't work with their friend. i have a lot of lazy relatives who are all low earners

bombardier - they argue for re-distribution of wealth. If you look at a lot of their policies its about taking money from higher earners and giving to lower. not sure if its in manifesto, but i've definately heard corbin say it

And redistribution of wealth is a good thing.

The UK is one of the most unequal countries in the developed world.

itsallgoing - if you've worked hard to earn it i disagree. If we all earnt the same why would anyone do more stressful skilled jobs with more responsibility? I wouldn't. I'd take a nice cushy number. Fine if you've inherited it and done nothing for it - i can see the argument for that, but not if you've trained for years (and forgone pay)

Since when has the words "consider options such as" mean that something is set in stone?

I'm sure Theresa is very happy with the little Torybots that have been out in force screeching about this today.

Remember this. Tories have not ruled out tax rises. That could well include council taxes and the last time we had a Tory govt review council taxes we ended up with the poll tax.

But that's obviously just speculation...kinda like what people are doing with one sentence in the Labour manifesto.

@Genevieva, this is what the manifesto says:

We will initiate a review into reforming council tax and business rates and consider new options such as a land value tax, to ensure local government has sustainable funding for the long term.

So actually all they're committing to is reviewing council tax. They'll consider a variety of options, LVT will be one of them.

The aim of any reform will be to make the system more fair, and to ensure that income meets expenditure. Any suggestion that a new tax would be treble current levels is absolute nonsense, because the council does not need treble the income to meet their spending obligations.

Genevieva, you make some excellent points.

Spartasprout "in 2009 somebody told me a frightening rumour, but nothing ever came of it"

Was this a rumour based on the idea that council tax might be based on actual current value of a house, rather than what its notional value used to be many years ago?

What a horrifying rumour.

itsallgoing - if you've worked hard to earn it i disagree. If we all earnt the same why would anyone do more stressful skilled jobs with more responsibility

I'm not saying everyone should get paid the same. But for example is a CEO really worth that much more than a police officer, or a banker worth that much more than a bin man?

As others have observed, yet more taxation will result in fewer sofas purchased, fewer meals eaten out, fewer holidays booked etc etc. And so more people losing jobs

Or...it pays for better education, reduces poverty, helps drive economic growth as the workforce is better and healthier, less social problems and helps the economy.

However, many London businesses are in London because they have little choice

Why do they have little choice? Plenty of large businesses seem to be relocating quite successfully in the wake of Brexit...

@dreamingofsun, they do aim for some redistribution of wealth, yes. But what they want is to give those who want it a helping hand up - free tuition fees, investment in industry and infrastructure in the regions, not just London. They don't want to punish anyone from doing well, but they do want to get those who are avoiding tax by using loopholes to pay their fair share. These measures are not aimed at honest hard working people such as yourself.

You're always going to get some people that will avoid work, but in reality the Tories aren't doing anything to change that either. Their efforts have focused on penalising the vulnerable, the disabled in particular, and that's about as low as you can get.