Mansion Tax: FT praises, Government doesn’t reject

From Left Foot Forward:

Martin Wolf, writing in yesterday’s FT, has praised the Liberal Democrats “mansion tax” policy:

“Taxation of property should be heavier, not lighter. But it should also be less regressive. That is why the mansion tax is the germ of an excellent idea.

“Taxes on property have other benefits: they automatically rise with prosperity; they are hard to evade; and they are automatically imposed on otherwise untaxed foreign owners. The latter benefit from the amenities of the UK without paying for them. A higher property tax is a simple – and inescapable – way of making them contribute to what they enjoy.”

But unlike a banks supertax, the Government has not yet ruled out a mansion tax. Speaking at a Progress event last night, Liam Byrne told Left Foot Forward:

“On the mansion tax, I’m afraid I cannot give you an answer as I haven’t studied it enough.”