Fury as Rachel Reeves accused of ‘deceptive’ over mansion tax – ‘do not fake!’ | Politics | News | EUROtoday

Local councillors have slammed Rachel Reeves over her so-called mansion tax plans. The Chancellor has been accused of “misleading” the general public over the brand new High Value Council Tax Surcharge (HVCTS), introduced in November’s Budget.

The levy, set to be launched in April 2028, is positioned on house owners of houses in England price £2 million or extra. Funds raised from the levy will reportedly go straight to the Treasury, nonetheless city corridor chiefs are believed to be livid because it has been labelled as a “council tax”. Council representatives have complained to the Government, claiming that is “misleading” because the title of the tax really suggests money raised could be going to native city halls.

Cllr Elizabeth Campbell, chief of the Conservative-led Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, instructed The Telegraph: “If they want to reform local government taxes, they should do that. But don’t pretend this is about solving council tax problems.

“This is an underhand way of putting a wealth tax on property. Let’s call a spade a spade. If they want to be socialist, be up front about it.”

She added: “The word council tax means we levy it on occupiers, it is a local tax, raised locally, to be spent locally. This is not that – it is a tax on the owners not the occupiers. It has nothing to do with local services. We won’t see a penny of it.”

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The Local Government Association (LGA), which represents councils, has additionally voiced issues.

Cllr Pete Marland, chair of the affiliation’s native authorities assets committee, mentioned the “founding principle” of council tax is that it funds native providers and native authorities are accountable for it.

In response to The Telegraph report, a Treasury spokesperson mentioned: “This tax will be paid alongside existing council tax and collected by councils.

“Revenue will be used to support funding for local government services, with further detail set to be set out at the next spending review.”