council tax band G & H to double

[StrawberryThief1930]

has anyone seen the rumours that the council tax rates for bands G and H are going to double?

I know everything is just rumours at the moment but im worried this one might stick. easy to implement in an existing system and doesn't require the revaluation of thousands of houses etc.

I'm about to buy a G band house. Seriously questioning whether we can afford it. The current council tax is £4k a year. so £8k a year. Over £300 a month more than we had budgeted. we have spreadsheets coming out of our ears trying to check we can afford this house. Buying with a 40% deposit. im sweating...

anyone have the same worries? or further thoughts?

CGT taxes real profit, like a tax is actually supposed to. If you buy at £900k, spend £500k improving, and sell for £1.5m, the £600k gain is what gets taxed. The £900k and £500k were paid from already-taxed income. Don't forget we are ignoring stamp duty has been paid + decades of mortgage intereston the loan ti buy the house. All addtional costs to the home owner.

A mansion tax, or juiced-up council tax, taxes the spreadsheet moneys paper valuation, including money already taxed and money you haven’t actually made.

Cant afford the tax : ‘You can just sell.’
Riiiight. So if you can’t afford the tax, you should forfeit your home? That’s like taxing you today on the salary you might earn next year and saying, ‘If you can’t afford it, just quit.’ I almost forgot, there us a safety net... Thanks to the government's generosity, You can owe it to them, pay interest on a debt created by a fictional valuation and settle up when you sell.

Council tax is framed as a charge for occupying a property and funding local services like bins, roads, police and social care. It's based on a rough valuation range. A mansion tax is explicitly a wealth tax based on the actual asset value. Just like income tax is based on your actual salary.

CGT = real money.
Mansion tax = a fake valuation for a real tax.

@NorthXNorthWest
"A mansion tax is explicitly a wealth tax based on the actual asset value. Just like income tax is based on your actual salary."

Council tax is a property tax. It is not inherently evil. It has the huge advantage that it is difficult to avoid by hiding your house, or moving it offshore. It is cheaper and easier to collect than most taxes.

In most cases, the amount due is somewhat proportional to the value of the house. The so-called "mansion tax" goes some way to correcting the unfairness of the current banding, where the most expensive houses pay a much smaller proportion than do less valuable homes.

For many people it wasn"t a 2 million house when they bought (or more likely took out mortgage debt) for many it will no longer be a 2 million pound house as banks are down-valuing most property they lend on now.

The so-called "mansion tax" goes some way to correcting the unfairness of the current banding,

Every year, forever on a guess... What other asset is taxed 4 times just for existing?

I won't comment much on your guess.

Reality is more meaningful.

I prefer reality. The reality of an actual sale.

Sounds like there will be a lot of rich people appealing this so whatever criteria they use better be objective and watertight. Or the whole shenanigans will cost more to implement than it will ever raise in taxes.

I also read somewhere that council housing work more than 2 million will be exempt. Council housing is not otherwise treated differently for banding purposes. Not sure how that one is going to work either.

Wow. Are there £2m council houses?

I’m sure there will be a couple if there are larger houses that exist in parts of London

110 aparently
Mainly London with rents far far below the private sector

There will be lots of HMO type houses that are worth more than 2 million? Including some housing refugees? Yes or no?

110 of them according to Google... All mansion tax exempt. The only think that stacks up in debacle is the tax!

I can only hope that some of the people affected band together and try to challenge this through the courts. I am a couple of bands down but I can see the direction of travel of this scavenger tax.

Apologies missed @DrPrunesqualer post

No worries
Glad to be backed up

None of it is going to work is it? They have not addressed any of the big problems with our economy, it is inevitable now that the bond market forces their hand?

https://www.msn.com/en-gb/money/other/growing-threats-to-uk-financial-stability/ar-AA1RHL2O