No 10 denied the Government was considering replacing council tax and stamp duty with a tax based on property or land values.
Andy Burnham has been in office a week (Image: Getty)
Andy Burnham has admitted he’s considering a radical overhaul of council tax and stamp duty. The new Prime Minister conceded there are “big decisions” ahead as reports emerged of a new system being drawn up.
Downing Street denied the Government was considering replacing council tax and stamp duty with a tax based on property or land values.
Sir James Cleverly MP, Shadow Housing Secretary, said: “Andy Burnham and Labour are just looking for more ways to tax Middle England, and raise taxes on people’s homes.”
“Replacing council tax and stamp duty with a new house price tax would not be a tax cut for hardworking families – quite the reverse: people across England would end up paying more.
“This is just smoke and mirrors from the party that has already hiked both council tax and stamp duty. The Conservatives are the only party that will keep tax on the family home down – including by scrapping stamp duty entirely for primary residences.”
“So the Chancellor before, Rachel Reeves, was right to start to reform council tax to create some fairness there in relation to people in homes that are of much greater value, who haven’t seen their council tax go up over the years because of the failure to revalue the banding.
“So that’s an example of something that I think was right and fair.”
He added: “We need to honour the manifesto upon which Labour was elected, and if I was to bring forward any changes, obviously people would rightly say, well, is this consistent with that manifesto?
“So there are big decisions ahead, you are right about that.”
Mr Burnham has previously said he has been “persuaded” of the argument for reforming the system.
However, on Sunday night, Number 10 denied reports by the i Paper that he was actively considering replacing council tax and stamp duty with a 0.48% annual charge on a home’s current value, or a land value tax.
According to the Fairer Share Campaign, the flat-rate annual charge could save households in areas such as Hartlepool about £950 a year.
Stamp duty is payable on sales from £125,000, although first-time buyers do not pay any on purchases up to £300,000. However, the relief ends at prices over £500,000.
Labour has come under pressure from its back benches to reform council tax, including from the chairman of the cross-party group of MPs on council tax reform, Jonathan Brash (Hartlepool).
The Labour MP told The i Paper “wholesale reform” was needed. He has previously pointed out that Band A homes in Hartlepool cost nearly 2.5 times as much as in Westminster.
He said: “Council tax is one of the most unfair taxes in Britain, and nowhere is that injustice clearer than in towns like Hartlepool.”