THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Vince Cable has called for an annual 1pc levy on homes worth over £2m and insists Conservative MPs are among the scheme's backers.
While the policy is likely to be opposed by George Osborne, the Chancellor, Mr Cable said that he had spoken to Conservative MPs who backed the plan.
“A mansion tax is still very much on the agenda – it is a very good idea,” Mr Cable told The Sunday Telegraph.
“It is good for two reasons,’’ he said. ''It would constitute a tax on wealth rather than income, which we believe to be right, and also in economic terms it creates the right sort of incentives for the property market.”
Mr Cable added that it was “perverse” that rich “foreigners” could buy expensive properties in Britain and contribute just £1,000 a year in council tax towards the public finances.
The Business Secretary will on Tuesday unveil new measures to curb executive pay at Britain’s biggest public companies. He is expected to propose binding votes over future pay awards.
His insistence that a mansion tax was still on the cards will surprise many of his party’s MPs and supporters, who have grown pessimistic about it becoming government policy. The proposed levy would see home owners hit with an annual charge of 1 per cent of the property’s value above a £2 million threshold.
A homeowner with a property valued at £2.5 million would pay £5,000 a year, while one whose house was worth £5 million would pay £30,000 a year. This would be on top of council tax. » | Robert Watts, Deputy Political Editor | Saturday, January 21, 2012
