Stamp Duty Land Tax (paid on house purchases) should be reformed, with tax band thresholds linked to the regional average house price. Purchases up to the regional average house price should be zero-rated. In addition, the 'slab' approach of current taxation will be changed to an incremental approach, where only the amount above a threshold is taxed at that rate.
Improve rental rights, such that residential tenants cannot be evicted if they are paying market rate rent and have not damaged the property. Create a general principle that for tenants a property is their home and core to their life, whereas for landlords it is but a piece of property and simply a financial asset.
Adopt Land Value Taxation (LVT), a charge on the rental value of land not including any improvements made on the site (such as buildings, drainage and services). Valuation to be based on market evidence, in accordance with the optimum use of the land within the planning regulations and updated regularly (at least every 2 years). LVT would replace Council Tax, Uniform Business Rates, and Stamp Duty. There will be two rates of Land Value Tax - a national rate and a local rate. The national rate will be decoded after consultation and research.The local rate will be set at the discretion of each local authority. Public open space, public transport infrastructure and open water will all be exempt from LVT. Local and national government property will not be exempt, to encourage the efficient allocation of publicly owned assets.
Personal income tax is calculated on income generated prior to expenses being deducted. But in business, corporation tax is calculated on any profit generated after expenses have been deducted from income. It is proposed that a study is conducted into the feasability and fairness of calculating them both in the same way: either personal income tax being revised and only calculated after household costs have been deducted (ie taxing household surplus or amount put into savings rather than income), or corporation tax being calculated on the basis of revenue alone.
Big thumbs up 👍! Probably the single most helpful policy that could be implemented in the UK.
@digitalWestie - over 9 years ago
cool give it a 👍 - so it gets picked up by the votebot: http://votebot.openpolitics.org.uk/
👍 from me. Could you add some of those references as footnotes in the manifesto itself? See http://kramdown.gettalong.org/quickref.html#footnotes for the syntax.
@philipjohn - over 9 years ago
@digitalWestie This has enough votes to pass but before I merge in, do you fancy looking at adding those references in?
Stamp Duty Land Tax (paid on house purchases) should be reformed, with tax band thresholds linked to the regional average house price. Purchases up to the regional average house price should be zero-rated. In addition, the 'slab' approach of current taxation will be changed to an incremental approach, where only the amount above a threshold is taxed at that rate.
Improve rental rights, such that residential tenants cannot be evicted if they are paying market rate rent and have not damaged the property. Create a general principle that for tenants a property is their home and core to their life, whereas for landlords it is but a piece of property and simply a financial asset.
Adopt Land Value Taxation (LVT)[^2], a charge on the rental value of land not including any improvements made on the site (such as buildings, drainage and services). Valuation to be based on market evidence, in accordance with the optimum use of the land within the planning regulations and updated regularly (at least every 2 years)[^3][^4]. LVT would replace Council Tax, Uniform Business Rates, and Stamp Duty. There will be two rates of Land Value Tax - a national rate and a local rate. The national rate will be decoded after consultation and research. The local rate will be set at the discretion of each local authority. Public open space, public transport infrastructure and open water will all be exempt from LVT. Local and national government property will not be exempt, to encourage the efficient allocation of publicly owned assets.
Personal income tax is calculated on income generated prior to expenses being deducted. But in business, corporation tax is calculated on any profit generated after expenses have been deducted from income. It is proposed that a study is conducted into the feasability and fairness of calculating them both in the same way: either personal income tax being revised and only calculated after household costs have been deducted (ie taxing household surplus or amount put into savings rather than income), or corporation tax being calculated on the basis of revenue alone. The central bank will be required to consider the reduction of inequality (as measured by the GINI coefficient) when formulating monetary policy to balance its existing remit of maintaining price stability and inflation at 2%.
[^1]: Stop Secret Contracts
[^2]: Land Value Taxation Campaign - What is LVT? [^3]: A Land Value Tax for England [^4]: A Land Value Tax for Scotland
@digitalWestie - over 9 years ago
That's the main three in there. As a general point of style, do we restrict manifesto content/proposals solely to actions then add links to things backing up the policy? Or is it better to add in a sentence or two about the rationale?
@philipjohn - over 9 years ago
Smashing thanks 👍
It's mostly just good practice to back up policy with evidence really, and best to have that right on the manifesto itself as these PRs are kinda buried for the average reader.
The OpenPolitics Manifesto
@digitalWestie - over 9 years ago
Relevant sources and benefits of LVT: - LVT Campaign: http://www.landvaluetax.org/ - Land reform resesarch blog from Andy Wigthman: http://www.andywightman.com/?s=Land+Value+Tax - A Land Value Tax for England - http://www.andywightman.com/docs/LVTenglandfinal.pdf - Info poster on LVT in Northern Ireland: http://www.nicva.org/sites/default/files/d7content/attachments-articles/landvaluetax.pdf
"LVT is designed to encourage efficient and sustainable usage of land. Owners of derelict and neglected properties pay no less tax than those who manage their properties better, thus providing an incentive to look after and use land well. Supermarkets and developers would be deterred from “land-banking”, a speculative practice which regularly leaves brownfield land unused and unproductive." - http://www.andywightman.com/docs/LVTREPORT.pdf
"It recognises that the value of land is often not intrinsic, i.e. it is determined by wider factors than the land itself, and therefore the wider community should benefit from increases in land value too. [..] Land Value Tax is very hard to avoid. As long as there is a fully-functioning land information system of ownership, occupation, land use and land values the state can easily tax land owners." - http://www.allofusfirst.org/the-key-ideas/land-for-people/
"Marginal areas revitalised - Economic actitivities are handicapped by distance from the major centres of population. Conventional taxes such as VAT and those on transport fuels cause particular damage to the remoter areas of the country. Land Value Tax, by definition, bears lightly or not at all where land has little or no value, thereby stimulating economic activity away from the centre - it creates what are in effect tax havens exactly where they are most needed." - http://www.landvaluetax.org/what-is-lvt/
It's simple, progressive, and well tested.