Monday, Jun 07, 2010
Apparently taking the piggies trough away will be very bad for the countryside
Daily Telegraph: CGT: Dark clouds ahead in the countryside
Britain's economy [apparently] relies on the property market. A capital gains tax increase could send it into tailspin. With a population of fewer than 1,000, according to the 2001 census, it is not a particularly large village, but supports 40 or 50 businesses. Daily life could be maintained (at some cost) without ever going to Tesco; there is even a chemist. You could also purchase a wedding hat, clothe yourself and your children several times over, stock up on books (from either the new or secondhand bookshop) and buy any number of art works. As the lady in the post office puts it, when I go in for a newspaper: "If it wasn't for the visitors, we wouldn't have jobs." ' So there!
Posted by montesquieu @ 09:44 AM (1511 views) Add Comment
11 Comments
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1. mark wadsworth said...
Wierd.
Even if CGT on second homes were hiked, there are two things that can happen:
1. People decide to retain their second homes as at present. Nothing changes.
2. People decide to sell their homes, presumably to other second homers (according to the article). Nothing really changes apart from all the local tradesmen can earn a shedload of money yet again for redecorating these houses according to the wishes of the new owners.
I fail to see how either of these possibilities makes things worse for people who live in on near that village.
2. letthemfall said...
Written by the editor of Country Life, that learned journal of "country" people (reminds me of the Billy Connolly joke about putting the c*** into country).
I wonder what all these businesses do during the working week when Quaint-Holiday-Village-On-Sea is emptier than the beach in a winter gale. Mow the lawn around their caravans perhaps.
Still, seeing that the economy is totally dependent on housing, what the hell are the rest of us doing beavering away at our respective non-property jobs? Down tools all.
3. mick rupert said...
@2, letthemfall
"...seeing that the economy is totally dependent on housing, what the hell are the rest of us doing beavering away at our respective non-property jobs? Down tools all."
Er, quite. Suggestions like this do make me wonder whether the often-ridiculed "home buyers strike" could be effective after all.
reCaptcha: work epilogs
(timely!)
4. the number cruncher said...
Read the comments section - they are brilliant - I love the way the comments section shows up the true nature of the editorial stance of the right wing papers (and it shows that a lot of the readers can see past the papers duplicity and attempt at manufacturing a consensus that favours the rent seekers).
"You are either a bit slow, naive or disingenuous. Do you really think the world is divided between dynamic, striving entrepeneurs and indolent spongers? Come off it mate, most people are working their arses off just to make ends meet. " Simon_coulter
My sentiments exactly - it shows up the self deception of country landowners/business people - and these pigs will fight a bitter fight to defend their monopoly trough.
5. doomwatch said...
Christ this CGT storm in a tea cup just keeps rolling. Yet again, knee jerk policy used to tax the majority
for the crimes of the minority.
Why can't George just put 1p VAT on beer; this would raise more GUARANTEED revenue (suprisingly not all
people declare CGT. I know many amateur "developers" who "don't realise" they're exposed).
The only amendment to CGT would be to change the CGT free rule for foeign & non dom property "investors"
and the tax on "compensation" shares used by fat cats & traders to reduce their income tax.
6. Cleveland House said...
I recognise this village; it's Ambridge! Who's just waiting for Matt Crawford to come a cropper?
7. righttoleech said...
£800,000 cottages in Norfolk??? I think they are talking excrement.
8. tenant super said...
A search for property for sale on find a property dot com shows houses ranging from 160k for a modest semi. on the outskirts of the village You can pick up something very nice for under £250k.
Those in the £800k region are large grade II listed cottages overlooking the green.
9. britishblue said...
I know it is 25 years ago. But I had a friend who bought a two bedroom cottage in a place called Snettisham on the North Norfolk coast for £12,000. It was on the main sea road, less than a mile away from the coast. He had to totally do it up, new electrics, plaster, boilers, etc. but it was a purchase that was well within the pockets of any local person on an average wage. Maybe one thing in the article is right. Maybe a 75% reduction isn't enough.
10. drewster said...
Mark W @ 1,
The problem with increasing CGT is that there will be fewer transactions. Would-be sellers will hold out for a future Conservative-majority government which they hope will cut the tax again. In the meantime, the additional CGT collected won't be as much as forecast (because of fewer transactions), the Tory right-wing will say "I told you so", and CGT will be cut again. The hold-outs will have been proved right.
Compare this with the simple beauty of LVT. It collects the tax now, and will probably increase transaction numbers, thereby providing employment to all those builders and decorators.
11. mark wadsworth said...
D, sure, in practice, CGT is a terrible tax. In which case, what'll happen is (a) and nothing will change, so the people in this village have lost nothing. But I've been told off for mentioning LVT all the time.