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.

I'd seriously question whether the revaluation exercise will cost more than an extra band brings in. They can't just do it by Zoopla or drive by valuation- whether somewhere is fully renovated and extended vs had the same owner for 40 years makes a big difference to house value. I can't tell if a terraced house near me has a rear extension just by looking at it - will the revaluers be checking records for extensions and loft conversions? How does this work? I'd expect a lot of appeals, especially in cities like Aberdeen where house prices have fallen a lot.

Exactly - what’s the appeals process? Marginal cases who can argue their interiors aren’t standard for the valuation are certainly going to appeal.

and labour have done a better job actually
publishing the amount of the initial extra
tax (even though their tax hits at double the value) so people do have time to move and buy that cheaper lovely family home in another area if they need to..

and labour have done a better job actually

It’s interesting that the policy seems more acceptable when its done in the way Labour are doing but is problem with the way that the SNP will do it. It almost reads that your concern isn't whether the tax is right or wrong, but about who ends up paying it.

Warning people - who did exactly what they were encouraged to do to reduce their dependence on the state - that they will now be disproportionately charged for the consequences of tax avoidance by the rich and corporates, poor government policy, weak regulation and long-term mismanagement of the welfare state doesn’t magically turn a bad idea into a good or fair one.

No, I agree with your points, but additionally I’m outraged that a lack of information means that I can’t, in that great Labour phrase ‘cut my cloth’. You can’t respond to an unquantified tax rise speedily and you shouldn’t have to. It’s poor government. As well as a bad policy.

What an absolutely revolting house. Would not give you a quid for it.

Who are you to tell people what they should live in. Your ranting thread is so political and bitter. Do you suggest that we just give our large houses away to families. We have worked damn hard for ours and now live in comfort in Ireland in a very nice house all bought and paid for and the council tax is 35 quid a month.

I don’t think this is Labour’s fault. They’re in power in london where tax bands and rates are reasonable, and stamp duty is half what it is here. They’re not slaughtering normal taxpayers who’ve done well for themselves.

Yes stamp duty was much less in Scotland under Labour. It's sickening now how much we need to pay.

£1m house in Scotland, £78k stamp duty. In England £43k.

We have to pay the huge cost of the public sector in Scotland as well as the benefits

It’s soul destroying

i am in the ludicrous position that I work a zero hours contract effectively for the SG, they need me to do more hours, but if I go over 42k I lose out on tax so it’s not worth it

Earn £100k you pay £271 more than in England every month in income tax. Surely the better off in Scotland are paying enough already.

Sell up and move to England then if it's so appealing?

People have family commitments too. Its really not fair to disrupt kids education move them schools if you don't need too.
Also parents many would be reluctant to move leaving elderly parents.

If it wasn't for those two I'd seriously consider moving.

But if everyone who lived in a mansion went the country would be screwed. Don’t you want industrious working people here? Are we a bad thing for Scotland? Are the only ‘worthy’ Scot’s those completely dependant on the state?

Why keep complaining. You're in a very fortunate position compared to many?

There but for the Grace of God go I....be thankful you don't rely on state help. Many out there fall on hard times due to no fault of their own and need that safety net to survive.

The issue isn’t that Scotland pays a bit more income tax than England - it’s that taxes are too high. To add insult to injury tax payers are being blamed and punished for the need for high taxes

Taxes are crushing ordinary tax payers at the same time as secure jobs are disappearing - offshoring, zero-hour contracts, and unstable work. Work extra hours or get a promotion, and you barely take anything home - at £100k, you keep only 38p in the pound. Yes, I know that’s the marginal rate, but being paid less per hour for working longer or harder makes no sense to most people. Especially when the welfare bill is spiralling out of control the and the Government refuses to do anything about it or tax avoiding corporates and the truly wealthy.

Taxes are too high for everyone across England and Scotland.

Even on a less than 400k house you're looking at 10,000 land tax. These aren't big houses for rich families.

What if you need a new car? Children at uni ( rent). It's really unfair.

The issue with stamp duty is that it stops people moving house. There are many reasons why people need to move house. It’s good that they do. With a depleted housing stock people need to be encouraged to live in houses that meet their needs in order to make the most efficient use of that housing stock. People should be encouraged to move regularly. Stamp duty stops that.

Absolutely stamp duty holds wage growth down as people don’t take risks to move for better jobs. Ditto employer owned pension schemes. All of these things need reform.

I’m not sure about employer owned pension schemes. I have moved a lot for work and have a lot of pots of pension and have looked into merging them into my current employer but the admin charges for each scheme are minimal so it’s not a big concern of mine.

the Government are working on a ‘pensions dashboard’, an online portal where you can view all of your pension pots and the state pension you are likely to get and at what date. But as with every government scheme it’s taking AGES.

People moving houses also stimulates the economy.
New decoration, new carpets, new furnishings etc
There is a knock on effect of people not moving

I always think its crazy that stamp duty is paid on the full value. To me it should only be paid on the 'upgrade' price, ie you own a £90k house, buying a £170k house 170-90=80k you should only pay stamp duty on the 80k that you are upgrading.

Then if you move to a £350k house £350-170 = 180k

Does that make sense?

That would make much more sense.

What also seems crazy to me is that it’s a tax on those who live in cities. I live in a city. I earn well but that’s because I live in a city. And because I live in a city my costs are much higher. The disposable income of those the life in cities is on the whole lower than those who live elsewhere. It’s not just housing but things like nursery fees, cost of tradespeople, parking permits, insurance etc that costs more. But then we are far, far more likely to be subject to high stamp duty and this mansion tax. These are ‘Edinburgh’ taxes. Why should the people of Edinburgh pay more tax just for living in a high cost of housing area? Makes no sense.

Atleast in England the Marion tax starts at £2m, which is generally only affordable by the wealthy.

The city / country thing doesn't bother me. People who work in country areas tend to have limited career opportunities, shops, farm hands, tourist industry.
Some areas the locals are being priced out by holiday homes which isn't great for communities either.

Maybe it’s more of a bottleneck with moving between private/db schemes - still people employed in quasi public sector roles reluctant to leave due to pensions.

but why does an employer own a scheme at all rather than specifying a percentage? Then no need to xfer anything, simple…