Mansion tax concerns

[Bilberrybeaut]

The Greens are proposing a mansion tax in the budget, with a rumoured proposed value of ‘mansion’ of £1m. I’m really concerned that this might happen. If it does it would be the final straw for us. We earn well and already pay hundreds of pounds more EACH MONTH in income tax than we would if we lived in England. Our stamp duty was tens of thousands more. A truly insane amount of money. I am taxed so highly that my marginal tax rate is 67% and yet the Greens think I’m not paying enough tax. How much is enough???

If they want to squeeze even more tax out of us we’ll leave. You cannot keep coming back to the same people with the begging bowl. It has got to the stage when they are taking the piss. We’ll go to England and be hundreds of £ better off every month.

Reality is though new builds are valued much higher than if they'd been built in1991

I had a tiny flat, with 1.5 bedrooms, valued higher than my mums 2 bed ex council house with a garden and garage space. In the same town.

You only here off the properties assessed as higher, many don’t pay enough.

Lack of standardisation/fairness means it’s time for a complete overhaul.

Was the old rates system, not based on the sq ft of a house?
That was probably fairer than basing it on an assessed value which has loads of variables to consider

If you've moved from a more prosperous part of the UK to Scotland, say from London & have bought "a mansion" then I assume that you did your homework re council tax reform discussions that regularly surface up here. (I say London as not many locals regularly buy £1 000 000 mansions).

Once the people meant to pay it change behaviour (selling up, downsizing, avoiding investment), the tax raises less than expected. But councils still need the money. So thresholds get lowered, rates get nudged up, and suddenly it’s no longer just 'mansions' paying.

Landlords hit by the tax either pass the cost on through higher rents or sell up. Fewer rental homes means higher rents, and renters get pushed into cheaper areas in a market with reduced supply.

The Netherlands is a case in point. Tax and other policies put drove landlords and investors to sell which put rents up. It did create opportunities for first-time buyers - but only because Dutch wages are much higher than in the UK. In Scotland and England, with lower incomes and tight housing stock, it’s far more likely to be all pain and little gain.

Add more pressure from a shrinking workforce and rising benefits bill = less money coming in and more going out

Trojan horse policies.