You have heard it first and it’s now official, ‘Britain has the highest property taxes in the World’ according to the latest survey of Global Tax Revenues by the OECD announced last week.
Taxes on Bricks & Mortar accounted for 12.3% of the total ‘tax take’ in 2013 – sharply up from 11.8% the previous year and over double the average of 5.6%. Continue reading
Well, ‘Houdini George’ seems to have managed to keep our deficit reduction plans on target by the end of the Electoral Term with a small surplus thanks to Tax Receipts that are greater than expected. Whether these will be recalculated along the way who knows? One hopes that the Chancellor has not been imprudent here by assuming that all is ‘well with the world’.
Education and Healthcare were ring-fenced as expected and Defence spending meets our NATO commitment of 2% of GDP as promised. Everything was ‘rosy in the garden’ until the subject of Housing was brought up. Continue reading
Dear George
I am certain that you have a lot to do before next Wednesday’s Autumn Statement and I am sure you are mindful that you are not only our esteemed Chancellor, but you could be Prime Minister Elect.
There are a few issues that need your urgent attention.
Firstly, despite what you read in the headlines, the Residential Property Market in London beyond £1.5million is grinding to a halt. I know you are not ordinarily concerned about deflation in prices of the more expensive properties in this sector for the moment but, if there is a full-blown recession, it may come up and ‘bite you on the bottom’. Continue reading