Plans to hit thousands of home owners with higher council tax penalties because their houses enjoy pleasant views and 'peace and quiet' have been discovered.
Shadow Local Government Secretary Caroline Spelman has accused Gordon Brown of converting council tax into a cynical and punishing tax on the quality of life. "Council tax is literally becoming a tax on a civilised society, with the extra funds raised from taxing nice neighbourhoods being 'redistributed' away to Gordon Brown's coffers.
Repeated denials that the Chancellor is planning to tax nice neighbourhoods in the forthcoming council tax revaluation in England have been discredited by controversial new documents exposed by the Conservatives, who have forced the Valuation Office Agency - an arm of HM Revenue & Customs - to publish the internal handbook they used in the controversial 2005 council tax revaluation in Wales.
The secret manuals, never before placed in the public domain, reveal that many homes with features like being near shops and public transport, with pleasant views or with "peace and quiet", were penalised with higher council tax bills. Building on the experience in Wales, the Treasury has rolled out an even more sophisticated neighbourhood tax in Northern Ireland for this April's revaluation, with plans for the system to be used comprehensively in the looming council tax revaluation in England.
The official taxmen's manual shows that as a pilot for the new neighbourhood tax system, mobile and park homes were given higher council tax bills for features such as "convenience of public transport facilities", "peace and quiet", "shop providing basic groceries", "pleasant views" and "good security".
And revaluation documents for all homes in the exercise reveal that kitchen units, bathrooms suites, double glazing and central heating were recorded by inspectors to help drive up bills - especially if the homes were on the cusp of a higher council tax band.
Commenting, Mrs Spelman said: "This is proof that Gordon Brown has turned council tax into a punishing and cynical tax on people's quality of life, by increasing council tax bills if you live near shops, near a bus stop, or live in a neighbourhood with peace and quiet. It is no wonder that the revaluation in Wales forced council tax bills to soar for so many homes. Northern Ireland is facing the same treatment from April, and I fear England and Scotland will follow."
She declared: "It is deeply worrying that householders had to fill in intrusive questionnaires about every aspect of their property, with the veiled threat of a compulsory inspection of their private home if they resisted. The only reason the tax inspectors want this information is to tax home improvements, even though people have already paid income tax and VAT to pay for doing up their home."
Mrs Spelman stated: "Council tax is literally becoming a tax on a civilised society, with the extra funds raised from taxing nice neighbourhoods being 'redistributed' away to Gordon Brown's coffers. This is the hallmark of an oppressive and greedy government - finding ever more stealthy ways to tax working families and pensioners, and trampling over privacy when it suits Labour Ministers."
