AIBU to think a £2m homeowner should pay mansion tax?

[LadyJos]

Anyone read the Telegraph Article about the 93 year-old man paying mansion tax on his £2m Richmond Home he bought for £15,000? AIBU but isn't £15,000 to £2m a fairly good return over 60 years, and shouldn't he pay some tax at the end? I can't help thinking since the home is mortgage-free, he has options here to pay the £2500 a year...
‘I’m a 91-year-old veteran about to be dragged into mansion tax. This is wrong’
www.telegraph.co.uk/money/property/house-prices/91-year-old-about-dragged-into-mansion-tax/

So great then.

We can all stop crying rivers

All this talk of redistributing wealth, what happens when money that is redistributed from the wealthier in society is then frittered away? Come for more until they have nothing left? And how much of other people’s money do you think others less well off should be entitled to?

How about people start paying attention to how much money government wastes, gives to other countries and squanders on failed projects, rather than treating the industrious in this country as cash cows, or penalising old people who have made money from their property over decades and no doubt paid a great deal of tax in that time?

How about the government actually tries to grow the economy by encouraging and supporting entrepreneurs and small/medium businesses, which were the backbone of our economy, rather than stifling growth with their incessant rules and regulations and favouring large multinational corporations.

I think that the government, instead of all the time thinking about how we can tax people more, should be thinking about growing the economy and creating more wealth.

Indeed. A relative bought his first house in the early 70s for £11k. Sold it in the early 90s for £32k. So a £15k house in 1960 would have been beyond the means of most people.

It really wasn’t. Using the BOE inflation calculator, £15k in 1966 would give you the equivalent buying power of £251k today. Today’s young people are royally screwed.

When that particular £2m property was bought is irrelevant, the fact is those who have £2m homes are wealthy and it is a type of asset traditionally taxed to redistribute wealth from top to bottom the same as inheritance/estates, investment gains and dividends.

And yes, everyone from poorest to richest already pays multiple taxes on the same income or asset, the poorest even pay tax on their landlord’s assets.

Exactly. Pulling up the ladder at every opportunity.

it's only a gain when you sell it. It's not real money at the moment.

If people start having to pay tax on the equity in their home, then will they get a tax rebate when prices drop? or if they end up in negative equity? And a lot on here can well remember the days of negative equity. I had to take out a personal loan to pay off my negative equity.

He pays his council tax, and if he can or cannot afford heating bill and what level of maintenance he has is entirely up to him.

Where do you see he could find money for "mansion tax"? Regardless, it doesn't matter if he has it or not, it's a completely unfair tax in this situation anyway.

What's next?
People on benefit can afford holiday abroad, so we can raise their council tax and council rent? If you can just tax for the sake of it, where else?

If that’s the case then who are all these people that bought homes all across London in the 60s, 70s etc. that are now worth millions? Are they Martians?

No, they were standard people working standard jobs.

But that is not what the proposed here. Gains on all other assists are taxed on the real gains when the asset is traded. This is a proposal to apply a continuing tax a paper gain. That is quite different. Domestic houses are are already taxed through SDLT when a trade is made so gains are already taxed

Why does anyone else have a right to his house or his money? What if he wants to give it to his grandkids equally?

The way you generate wealth and reinvigorate an economy is through public (domestic and foreign) and private investment. You can’t invest in say green technology, or cutting edge medical treatments without first doing a bit of fund raising. Governments can woo in foreign and private investment by offering tax breaks and friendly regulatory environments, but the only way they can raise funds to then invest is by taxation/tariffs.

A progressive government will aim the taxation towards those with the broadest shoulders who can and should contribute a bit more.

The thin end of the wedge. They will be levying it on 500k 3 bed semis, lived in by OAPs. If you haven't got the readies, they will take a charge on your property and add interest. What happens when they have 30 per cent charge on your 3 bed semi? You will have to leave as they want to put a family in there.

The State has the right to tax all citizens for the public good. Including Richie rich in his mansion.

I’ll tell you where he can find it- in his savings. And if you think he doesn’t have any you’re gullible as fuck

That is ridiculous.

I do think they should have introduced a much higher ceiling for pensioners. Something like £10 million.

£2 million, believe it or not, is an average home nowadays in London.

its not and you know it

And I also think it should have been progressive. Tax the hell out of people living in 10 million, 50 million, 100 million pound homes -- the really wealthy!

I know a number of people who fit into this category.

Pensioners in their 70s and 80s with valuable property, that they bought for far less than it would now be worth, but now own very expensive houses.

Their jobs range from TV producer, oil and gas academic, and advertising director.

All very hard working, but definitely not in “standard jobs” even when their properties were bought.

All of them, able to pay £2.5k a year for something.

You mean the ones who will just leave the country if taxed too much, thereby meaning that the government doesn’t get any money at all from them.

A search of my area in London (historically very unlovely) shows a bunch of 3 and 4 bedroom terraced houses for 2 million -- old worker's houses, they would not have been desirable at all 50 years ago

I hate this argument... as if taxation revenue is something we should beg for.

There are ways to tax people if they own property or businesses or investments in this country, it's just a quirk of our tax system that people can get out of tax if they don't physically live here, we can fix that.

How does a broke government do that when the only money they have is revenues from taxation?

As for money frittered away, that’s the governments fault and it is the Richie riches of this world that have the politicians in their pockets. The money gets frittered away back into the pockets of the rich. Very little actually goes to public good and the needy.

If you haven’t watched the hoovering of wealth upwards over the past decades though these sorts of mechanisms you haven’t been paying attention. The squeezed middle have not been having their wealth taxed to pay down, but taxed to make the top 1% much richer. They take £4 of every £5 and while passing 50p to the poor convince you that you’ve paid all £5 to the poor.

And they fear monger they pretend like a tax only the wealthy have to pay will be expanded down the scale and impoverish hard working regular, just about managing families. It’s all that they’ll come for you next! Which is ironic because taxes have already squeezed dry the middle snd bottom, so now it is the rich who are finally being asked to take a turn.