Windfall for property tycoons Thursday, October 11, 2007
Got a second home (or more) or have a portfolio of buy-to-let properties? If you did, you'd probably be aware any gains you made on selling the property would be taxed at 40% - only your main residence escapes tax.
But in the pre-budget statement on Tuesday, the tax rate was dropped to 18%, effective 6 April 2008. There are conditions, but you could reach odd conclusions about this
- the Govt is rewarding the "landed rich" : doesn't play well with natural supporters
- the Govt is rewarding landlords: This encourages turnover of property, not provision of rented accomodation
- the Govt is trying to avoid a downturn in property prices by propping up the groups that have lifted prices by offsetting higher interest rates
Its an odd one to be reducing the tax take on, especially when others quarters are screaming much louder.
posted by John Wilson @ 10:22 AM Permanent Link
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1 Comments:
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At 12:42 PM,
said...
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It's an odd one for sure - but I'm not going to look a gift horse in the mouth :-)
Now I don't have to stress about what I'll do with my old apartment that I rent out when I want to sell it (it wasn't a buy-to-let - I just moved in with my girlfriend to a bigger place so let it out...)
