The fatal flaw which will doom Reeves's 'mansion tax'

To tax, or not to tax? That is the question facing Chancellor Rachel Reeves ahead of Wednesday’s Budget. And, when it comes to housing, the stakes are particularly high.

Reeves is rumoured to be about to unveil a major change to Britain’s property taxation system. This has been dubbed a “mansion tax” by some, but when a terraced three-bedroom family home costs more than £1 million in London, you have to wonder how we’re defining “mansion” these days?

Labour MPs are, understandably, nervous. Ever since Margaret Thatcher’s disastrous poll tax, politicians have avoided messing with local taxation. The failure by successive governments to update council tax bands since 1991 has created a system that is unfair and distorted. New Feature

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