UK real estate: We need to talk about capital gains taxes

The tax is levied on investor landlords, not owner-occupiers. (Image: Christopher Furlong/Getty)

Sat, 04 May 2024

By Stuart TrowThe most unfortunate thing about the unedifying squabble in the UK over the sale by the Labour party deputy leader of her former council house is that it has politicised a useful and effective fiscal lever.Capital gains tax (CGT) is a far more powerful and sensitive policy tool for promoting change than the blunt instruments of either income tax or national insurance.The row centres on whether MP Angela Rayner should have paid tax on the profit she made from the sale of her former home. The fact that the issue remains unresolved s...

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