Posted on 12/10/2006 12:24:08 PM PST by kiriath_jearim
Millions of householders face paying a tax of hundreds of pounds a year for parking their cars outside their homes, in council tax changes introduced by the Government, the Tories claim.
Shadow Local Government Minister Caroline Spelman claimed officials have been ordered to include the value of street parking in a national review of council tax bands.
She said it means that homes in suburban and urban streets could find their council valuations increased by several thousand pounds. If that moves them into a higher band, they could expect to pay an average of £250 extra a year.
The move follows claims that the Government is to increase council tax for people in "nice" neighbourhoods or with pleasant views, as well as charge them for the number of bedrooms and lavatories, conservatories and even rabbit hutches.
A Commons written reply by Local Government Minister Phil Woolas said that the new computerised system for calculating council tax in the future would take account of parking.
The Valuation Office Agency would decide the value to a property of "on-street parking, the number of garage spaces and off-street parking".
Ms Spelman said: "This proposal is complete nonsense. It gives no consideration to whether you use the parking space. It is totally unfair to people who don't own a car.
"And it is just as bad for those who do own a car but can't park outside their house because someone else has already taken the space. In some cases, having a parking space is a disadvantage if it attracts abandoned cars and causes a nuisance.
"And yet this Government wants to force such householders to pay more regardless. This absurd system of council tax changes is being run from a desktop computer in an office miles from anywhere, with no thought given to whether the reforms are practical.
"It is just another Labour stealth tax which will affect many people in urban and suburban Britain. Labour is determined to tax Middle England in every way it can think of. Now they are taxing people on things they don't even own."
But Mr Woolas accused Ms Spelman of scaremongering.
"There is nothing new in this," he said. "All that is happening is that we are moving from manual to computer records. It has always been the case that the value of a home included whether or not it had parking space.
"It has always been taken into account and it it is quite right that it should be so."
The Conservatives, however, insisted the change was significant.
"There is no doubt that the Government wants to implement big increases in council tax charges for millions of average households," said a Tory official.
"The small print in the Chancellor's Pre-Budget Statement showed they intend to put up council tax by billions in the next few years to fill the black hole in their spending plans.
"The Valuation Office Agency survey is being used as a cover to mask the Government's true intentions. They want to punish homeowners by prying into every aspect of their private lives and squeeze more money out of them."
Ministers have rejected claims that they have given valuation officials the power to force their way into homes to check property details. And they deny that the review allows the use of satellite technology to find out if people have built extensions.
"If ya walk too much they'll tax your feet".
ping*
The word is "shakedown". Local government in Britain has been trying to find new ways of raising revenues all the time.
Regards, Ivan
Artist: The Beatles Lyrics
Song: Taxman Lyrics
One, two, three, four...
Hrmm!
One, two, (one, two, three, four!)
Let me tell you how it will be;
There's one for you, nineteen for me.
'Cause I’m the taxman,
Yeah, I’m the taxman.
Should five per cent appear too small,
Be thankful I don't take it all.
'Cause I’m the taxman,
Yeah, I’m the taxman.
(if you drive a car, car;) - I’ll tax the street;
(if you try to sit, sit;) - I’ll tax your seat;
(if you get too cold, cold;) - I’ll tax the heat;
(if you take a walk, walk;) - I'll tax your feet.
Taxman!
'Cause I’m the taxman,
Yeah, I’m the taxman.
Don't ask me what I want it for, (ah-ah, mister Wilson)
If you don't want to pay some more. (ah-ah, mister heath)
'Cause I’m the taxman,
Yeah, I’m the taxman.
Now my advice for those who die, (taxman)
Declare the pennies on your eyes. (taxman)
'Cause I’m the taxman,
Yeah, I’m the taxman.
And you're working for no one but me.
Taxman!
............and if you breathe too much?
"We just need it to pay for that "Free Lunch" you have been feasting on all these years...."
They already do this here in the states. You blokes better get with the times. (sarcasim)
As for the parking they have started doing that here recently as well. They tax us for water shed. That is they tax us per square foot for rain water run off of our roof and paved areas on our property. This supposedly is for the treatment of storm water run off and the preservation of creeks and rivers.
One very appropriate song.
And, as for all governments everywhere, they find the concept of restraining expenses to be obscene
Power corrupts.
Regards, Ivan
Regards, Ivan
Personally, I don't see how the Brits have any extra money for anything other than the bare neccesities, considering how heavily they are taxed on just about everything, with even more taxes to come.
Classic! Taxed for the rain water that falls on your property...
wonder how many goons it took to come up with that one?
If it gets worse, we'll work to make it better. But it will survive.
Regards, Ivan
535 plus 1. There were the Yeas and nays of course. Your US House and Senate at work.
Is the British tax system based on fair market value at all? At least where I live, and I assume in most of the US, taxes are based on the putative value of the property, based on the sale prices of comparable houses in the area.
There is, of course, controversy in determining which homes are "comparable." My house is overvalued, because the "comparable" houses in the neighborhood have all been renovated before they were sold, and I still have the original plumbing, old wiring and no central a/c. I plan to have an independent appraisal or two and appeal the valuation next year.
Do homes with available parking sell for more than homes without? If so, I'd expect that to be built into the appraisal. If not, not. Reading between the lines, and admitting my ignorance of the UK system, it seems that they might just be adding parking access as a factor in which homes are comparable to which -- and if that's the case, I'd expect the valuation of homes without parking to go down (or go up more slowly).
If these changes make the tax valuation more accurately reflect the actual value of the property, they're fair; if not, not. I can't really tell which is the case from this article.
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