Vince Cable still wants a mansion tax

By Jonathan Walker on Mar 22, 12 02:49 PM in Politics

Lib Dem Business Secretary Vince Cable will continue to push for more property taxes in future budgets, he has said.

Speaking to regional newspapers following the Chancellor's Budget statement, he said he backed the cut in the highest rate of income tax from 50p to 45p because a range of other measures, such as increasing stamp duty on properties worth more than £2 million, means the rich will still pay may more in total (a claim Labour disputes).

But one thing that wasn't in the Budget was a full blown mansion tax of the sort he has been calling for. This would be an annual levy on properties worth more than £2 million, while stamp duty is only paid when a property is bought.

I asked Dr Cable if he was happy that the rich are paying their fair share, as I put it, and whether he would continue to push for more property taxes.

He said: "I'm satisfied with the numbers I've seen, which show that the wealthy will pay five times as much tax as they would have done if we'd just stuck with the 50p rate. I think that's quite an important statistic.

"I continue to believe, my party continues to believe that there is a argument for shifting the burden of taxation from income to wealth and assets and we continue to make that case. But obviously we can't pre-judge what the next budget will have, whether its on allowances, wealth or anything else. We take that as it comes."

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