conservatives and stamp duty

theGrinch

yes totally agree we need a wide tax base. VAT is an interesting one (its relatively efficient to collect) and it is an expenditure tax rather than income based. It could be further argued that it is a voluntary tax, while many essentials are zero rated or exempt.

another idea I quite like is one some countries practice and that is flat rate tax rather than income tax.

i digress.

I am not convinced that all sellers will act on bloc to raise prices after all a house it only worth what someone is willing to pay for it. if there is any price increase then the government distorted the market initially with higher rates of stamp duty.

Yes there is a dire shortage of housing (something like 300,000) according to Kate Barker's report. there are a number of reasons for this from disjointed government to greedy housebuilders.

Not sure the solution is more housing in the south east though and even if we were to build more housing we should build them in a way to avoid moral hazard.

pennies2pounds_3

Its the usual scenario where they give it to you in one hand and take it back in another . Dont be surprised to see them close thousands of schools or hospitals to pay for the 'free' stamp duty.

dougk_2

MAybe the problem is the fact that the buyers pay the stamp duty. What if it was flipped to the sellers. The person who owned the property is the one making the money (potentially) so it should be the person to pay.

Maybe it should be a sale duty in future.... Then the FTB gets a break and those houses that are never sold but inherited get the cut from the estate.

But I agree, just doing away with it or cutting stamp duty will means funding from elsewhere or cuts to services , many of which require additional funding as it is.

Personally I hate paying tax, but at the same time I understand why it needs to be paid and feel we are still better off than many other places.

At the end of the day you can't have everything and not pay for it. A large house is still a luxury (do you really need a 3 or 4 bed house for a couple?). We have too high expectations.