Whilst few of the British reside in castles anymore (apart from our cherished Royal family), property owners of the nation regard their home as hallowed ground. In true socialist style though, Neo-Marxist, Dictator-in-Waiting Corbyn has decided that “what’s yours is mine” and is drooling over a Capital Gains Tax on all PPRs (personal private residences).
No former government has ever had the temerity to stamp on this sacred ground, for fear of an electoral backlash, but evidently there is no stopping this complete buffoon and his audacious tax plans.
The squeals of outrage from middle England will resonate throughout the yoga sessions, vegan cafés and recycling depots. Any shallow veneer of ‘mindfulness’ and ‘inner calm’ evaporates instantly when it comes to the chattering classes and money, but Toxic Grandpa doesn’t care – since the affected multitude wouldn’t vote for him anyway.
In keeping with the ideological dogma of these Marxist zealots, this latest wheeze will serve to exacerbate the parlous state of the Residential Property Market. In certain sectors, it has dropped in value by 35% from its former highs and transaction numbers are down by 60% where it is not unusual for a chain of sales to number twelve, in some cases.
Admittedly, the giga-numpty George Osborne deserves much of the blame, thanks to his ridiculous Stamp Duty reforms, which have managed to create a DIY recession in the residential sector, whilst at the same time has cost the Treasury at least £1billion per annum in lost tax receipts, a loose, loose scenario.
Help-to-Buy providing welcome liquidity
There is no question that the Help-to-Buy (aka the Help-to-Steal) initiative is providing welcome liquidity to the market around £500,000, but at what cost and is this money really getting to the people who need it most? Developers are only too pleased to benefit from this government-backed scheme, since they can flog their properties at full asking price to a gullible public, who effectively forestall their debt to the government for at least five years. The vain hope is that inflation will increase the equity of the property, while the debt will shrink in proportion to this. Since the Bank of England has stated that it will “…keep inflation low” (currently hovering near the 2% target) it seems that with all the imponderables of Brexit this could be a fanciful theory and, perhaps, the pigs are being washed and saddled, in readiness for flight.
If Corbyn were to impose a tax on Capital Gains, made worse by the punitive Stamp Duty charges, there would be no incentive to sell. Before you can say “shanty town in Caracas”, you will have plummeting values, negative equity and capital losses – not gains – to claim back against the Treasury.
Destructive tax combination
The destructive combination of a Wealth Tax, Mansion Tax, higher Income Tax and top-rate Inheritance Tax, that kicks in above any gift of £125,000, will not just affect the so-called “rich” but headmasters, senior nurses, small-business owners, skilled tradesmen, other professionals and a great deal of others who play a vital part in maintaining the wealth of the Nation.
Corbyn’s hate-inspired dogma will never let him or his cohorts understand that, try as he might, “making the rich poorer, does not make the poor richer.” However, “non so deaf as those who don’t want to listen.”