BKL tax partner David Whiscombe comments on fears that Labour’s ‘Mansion Tax’ will one day affect a wider proportion of the population.
‘Stop calling it Mansion Tax. Call it what it is: a selective wealth tax. And the concern is not so much extension to other taxpayers as the extension to other forms of wealth.
Historically the UK has eschewed imposing a wealth tax, for very good reasons. My concern is ‘mission creep’ from selective wealth tax to general wealth tax without the full and proper debate that it warrants.
If Ed Balls taxes ownership of a £2m house this year, how long before he casts envious eyes on a £2m share portfolio or buy-to-let properties? Or pension fund?’