BS: End of and Era;UK TAX on Homeimprovments

Subject: BS: End of and Era;UK TAX on Homeimprovments
From: Wrinkles
Date: 17 Jun 05 - 08:01 AM

Cought the UK paper's headlines today.

Ridding on the back of the fashion for Homeimprovements and small one-familiy property developments the Gove are going to be taxing homeimprovemnets.

For samll ops like this,admitidly for selfish reasons, preserve old cotages, railways stations, chapels, villages and rectories; but they do so on very tight margins. Tax in any form will devestate this enterprise.

And it's not just developers; homeowners will be taxed too on things like garages and extenstions and conservatories.

There'll be work lost over this, and not just because the few that are able to go on won't provide enough materiel for 3 days of Discovery Realtime TV shows either.

Socialist one expects to go after the Suits, but this legislation is aimed at Joe and Joanna Bloggs trying to make life better for thenselves - and that's not socialist in my book.

Barbara (angry at yet another New Labour betrayal of socialist principles)

Subject: RE: BS: End of and Era;UK TAX on Homeimprovments
From: Leadfingers
Date: 17 Jun 05 - 08:48 AM

Barbara - New Labour dropped Socialism from the manifesto before the 1997 election - So are you REALLY surprised at this latest move ??

Subject: RE: BS: End of and Era;UK TAX on Homeimprovments
From: Bunnahabhain
Date: 17 Jun 05 - 09:15 AM

Really? I don't think so , for several reasons reasons

Not the BBC, nor the Telegraph, Sun, Mirror, or Guardian have picked up on it. Not even the Daily Mail, which loves this Goverment so much. Which paper?

It would be something perfectly designed to seriously annoy Mr&Mrs Middle Class, the voters who went over to Labour in 1997, and if the Goverment loses many more, it will lose vast numbers of seats.

And IIRC, they're already taxed. Vat is levied on all building projects, except repairs to listed buildings or the construction of new buildings.

Subject: RE: BS: End of and Era;UK TAX on Homeimprovments
From: sapper82
Date: 17 Jun 05 - 05:22 PM

The situation is that local authorities will increase the Council Tax payable on any improved property in line with the increase of its value due to the improvements.
So in addition to being hammered by VAT, the Government plans allowing local authorities to hit the homeowner again.
Come back Maggie, all is forgiven!

Subject: RE: BS: End of and Era;UK TAX on Homeimprovments
From: GUEST
Date: 17 Jun 05 - 07:18 PM

Another floated myth by the press. Did anyone notice how they slanted road charging? No one seemed to grasp the fact that they said it wouldn't work without scrapping road tax and reducing fuel tax. Suddenly everyone was basing their opinions on things being the same PLUS road charging. Why are people so quick to spout opinions when they know so few of the facts? That way the press win. I'm beginning to think that the vote should be something you don't get automatically. It should be like the driving test, in that you should have to prove you're capable. It pisses me off that in our so called democracy some dumb clutz can cancel my vote with impunity!

Subject: RE: BS: End of and Era;UK TAX on Homeimprovments
From: EagleWing
Date: 18 Jun 05 - 05:30 AM

The situation is that local authorities will increase the Council Tax payable on any improved property in line with the increase of its value due to the improvements.

In the old days when we paid rates rather than Council Tax, additional structures like garages and sheds etc were always evaluated as extras and charged as such. I once worked as a valuation officer and had to go out and measure any new sheds and/or garages to decide whether they warrented extra rates. So this isn't a new idea at all.

Frank L.