British homeowners 'pay highest taxes in the world'
Britons pay the highest property taxes in the developed world, a new think tank report has revealed today. According to Policy Exchange, Brits fork out around £60 billion a year on charges such as stamp duty, council tax, capital gains tax, inheritance tax and business rates.
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As if the price of property itself is not enough, the taxes associated with owning a home or commercial property in the UK is worth 4.1 per cent of Britain's economic output.
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Meanwhile, in any of the 33 other members of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), that figure averages 1.8 per cent, and in some countries it is even lower, with Germany coming in at just 0.9 per cent.
The independent Office for Budget Responsibility estimates that stamp duty alone will could reach a record-breaking £9.4 billion a year by 2018, thanks to the five different rates levied, the highest of which is some seven per cent.
The report also blasted the Lib Dem proposal for a 'mansion tax' on homes worth more than £2 million, suggesting that it would also serve to penalise Brits owning "small but valuable homes" and adding: "Some people paying will not have an income that in any way relates to the value of their property and capacity to pay the tax."
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According to the Daily Mail, Alex Morton, from Policy Exchange, said: "No other developed country taxes property more heavily than the UK. Yet rising house prices and falling levels of home ownership have led to many calling for an increase to and and property taxes.
"But these issues will only be solved by genuine reform of the outdated planning system, not a tax raid on people's homes."
Has the cost of taxes imposed on property in the UK prevented you from buying your own home? Leave your comments below...
