Sunday, November 05, 2006Be afraid, be very afraid
Worrying Council Tax "pilot scheme"
Unusually very few bloggers seem to have picked up on this article in today's Sunday Telegraph outlining the extreme difficulties being faced by council tax payers in Northern Ireland. Probably because it is about Northern Ireland, yet the problems being experienced there could be duplicated on mainland England Wales and South Tyneside. A new method of calculating council tax is being used in the province and politician's there are convinced that it is being used as a pilot scheme for the rest of us here. In essence council tax is being calculated at 0.78% of the current market value of your property, with revaluations happening every five years. The scheme does not take into account ability to pay, or the fact that people may be property rich, yet have a very poor income. Current market value of the average two bedroomed flat in South Tyneside is around 95,000 pounds, council tax at 0.78% of this value amounts to 741 pounds, compared to the current 840 pounds, a nice little saving, however for someone with a terraced house in the same street valued at 150,000 pounds, the council tax jumps to 1,170 pounds. A semi-detached worth 200,000 pounds would attract tax of 1,950 pounds! If the market value alone is not enough to worry about, there is also the additional benefits and amenities calculations to consider. If you have a conservatory, loft conversion, views overlooking a park, a river, a golf course, or the coast the value will be adjusted upwards. Then there is more, if you refuse to allow a valuation inspector access to your property, you could face a fine of a thousand pounds or more! Reading the article is enough to bring tears to the eyes, when one considers the amount of people in this borough who have perhaps lived in the same dwelling for a number of years and seeing it's value rise well beyond what they could have imagined, whilst their salaries or incomes have not been able to rise at the same rate. It is beyond belief that David Cameron and the Tories seem hell bent on going into the next election without a commitment to reducing taxes, it is to be hoped that they fight this one tooth and nail to end the scheme in Northern Ireland and to ensure we don't see such a nonsensical approach to local government finance over here. Link Telegraph.
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It's much more moral to tax property values than it is to tax incomes.
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After all it's the state that is creating the property right in the first place. A property right is just another way of saying "the government lets you stop other people from accesing and using your property". Taxes like this also stop the catastrophic fall in housing affordability (Inflation that isn't called inflation) that we have seen over the last few years. You may be interested in the arguments of geonomics. << Home |
About Me Curly Born in 1956 Sanddancer Sunderland fan Male Retailer Former Borough Councillor View my Profile Contact Email Curly south-shields AT blueyonder DOT co DOT uk Got a story? Got a tip off? Got some scandal? Let me know! 07941386870 Search Search this site Comments How do I make a comment on this blog? Links Curly's Corner Shop website Curly's Photoshop My Message Board Shields photo gallery RTG Message Board Sunderland AFC Blog Site Feed Blogroll Me! Past December 2004 January 2005 February 2005 March 2005 April 2005 May 2005 June 2005 July 2005 August 2005 September 2005 October 2005 November 2005 December 2005 January 2006 February 2006 March 2006 April 2006 May 2006 June 2006 July 2006 August 2006 September 2006 October 2006 November 2006 December 2006 January 2007 |