Treasury dismisses house tax claims as ‘barking’
The Treasury has dismissed Conservative suggestions that Gordon Brown is planning a 40 per cent tax on house sales as “barking.”
Michael Howard’s party claim that the Chancellor is planning to fill a £10billion ‘black hole’ in the economy after the election, by subjecting people’s main homes to capital gains tax when properties are sold.
The Daily Mail reports that a Treasury insider has leaked details of the plan to Shadow Chancellor Oliver Letwin. But last night, a spokesman for Gordon Brown dismissed the claim as “laughable nonsense”.
“It would be barking mad to impose capital gains tax on main homes. It would destroy the housing market in Britain,” the unnamed source told the Daily Mail.
“We would do nothing to put at risk the stability of the economy or the housing market.”
Mr Letwin refused to comment on the story, but his deputy, Conservative frontbencher George Osborne, accused Treasury Chief Secretary Paul Boateng of failing to rule out the measure when questioned in Parliament last week.
Speaking to the Daily Mail last night, Mr Osbourne said: “We have suspected for some time that the Treasury has been working on secret plans to introduce a bombshell tax on people’s homes.”
“Now we have the clearest indication yet that this is one of their ploys for clobbering people if they win the election.”
Capital gains tax is currently only charged on second homes but there have been persistent rumours that officials are considering extending it to main homes.
