The TaxPayers' Alliance has a long and prestigious history campaigning against stamp duty land tax (SDLT). Among our supporters it's one of the most hated taxes. Throughout our 16 year history we've consistently called for it to be abolished. At the very least the threshold should be raised - 90 per cent of homes sold in 2019 were under £500,000.
That's why we very much welcomed the chancellor's announcement back in July of a temporary rise in the threshold to £500,000. Our unique analysis revealed that raising the threshold could unlock 216,000 house moves, equivalent to the total housing stock of Manchester.
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As things stand it won't be long before this stamp duty holiday comes to an end. The hard deadline of 31st March risks pushing the property market over the edge. This means that due to pent up demand and a covid induced backlog, thousands of potential homeowners could miss out on their dream home.
But we're not standing still. The TaxPayers' Alliance is leading the charge! We are putting pressure on the government to raise the threshold to £500,000 permanently. As part of our campaign we've launched a petition which we will take directly to the Treasury.
A permanent cut in stamp duty will be a boon to many - tax cuts change lives, not just balance sheets.
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The £300 million cost of public inquiries
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Meticulous research by the TPA has lifted the lid on the cost and length of public inquiries. Our analysis shows that government departments spent over £300 million on public inquiries in the last five years. In many cases investigations last several years and the results are mixed at best. The most expensive inquiry across all departments was the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA) at almost £150,000,000.
It is of course right and proper that scrutiny is applied to matters in the public interests. However, our report makes it clear that it would be to everyone's benefit if inquests were both faster and more effective. It's not unfair to say that politicians use long inquiries to dodge blame or difficult decisions.
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A future investigation into the covid crisis must be as swift and decisive as possible. That is the best way for the country to learn lessons and prepare for any future pandemic. For too long taxpayers have picked up the tab for soaring costs and terrible overruns of past public inquiries.
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TaxPayers' Alliance in the news
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Lording it over us
Members of parliament are regularly criticised for their expenses but we shouldn't ignore their colleagues in the upper house. The Sun revealed that members of the Lords have claimed £300,000 just to take part in online debates while sat at home.
According to reporter Andy Jehring, "Peers were paid £300,000 over 15 days of virtual proceedings from their own homes in the April and May lockdown." In one particularly galling example, one Lord claimed for £50 of petrol expenses despite having an estimated wealth of £23 million!
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Voicing his disgust at the profligacy our chief executive John O'Connell told millions of Sun readers, “Taxpayers who are feeling the pinch will be furious at the idea that well-heeled Lords are cashing in on the crisis. These allowances are meant to cover the costs of working in Westminster, not to offer peers huge hand-outs at home.”
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It's time to unleash a building boom
It's not just stamp duty that has a huge effect on Britain's housing market. Planning restrictions are adding fuel to the flames of the housing crisis and hindering economic growth. Writing for CapX this week our research fellow Rory Meakin says the "deadline is looming for the political event which could profoundly shape Britain’s economic and social destiny for decades to come."
Based on the work of respected economists, he argues that by fixing the planning system their could be a potential surge in GDP of 20 per cent! This is because we're not building the right homes in the right places as Rory explains: "The biggest economic consequence involves labour markets. It’s much harder than it should be to move to take up a good job because there aren’t enough homes near good jobs, so the cost of housing rises until some people can no longer afford to move."
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There is positive news though. Thanks to the work of the TaxPayers' Alliance and our friends at the Adam Smith Institute the government is at long last taking the problem seriously. It has proposed reforms that will simplify planning combined with fast track procedures.
There's still a long way to go but there is light at the end of tunnel. Read Rory's superb piece in full here.
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Jobs for the boys
The TPA filled column inches in hundreds of local newspapers this week as we learned the extent to which MPs employ family members at taxpayers' expense. Sourcing data from the register of members' interests, around one in seven MPs employ their relations to aide their work in parliament. Family members and spouses can earn up to £55,000 per year!
Voicing her concerns, our TPA media campaign manager Danielle Boxall told the press, “Openness and transparency are vital to give the public confidence that the system is not being abused. Taxpayers would certainly be concerned if family members were better paid than MPs’ other staff." Hear! Hear!
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And in a similar vein, there's less than a week to go until the consultation closes on MPs' pay. You may recall that members are set to receive a £3,360 pay rise! With many households struggling to pay their bills everyone month, how can this wage hike be justified?
That's why the TaxPayers' Alliance is leading the charge for radical reform. Instead of automatic rises, politicians should get performance related pay based on the prosperity of the whole nation - meaning if we get poorer their pay goes down, and no more golden goodbyes.
We have made an easy-to-use online tool so that you can submit to the consultation in a matter of seconds!
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Highway to hell
Highways England is proposing to spend £7 million on a rebrand and it's taxpayers who could be left picking up the tab. Plans are afoot to change the name to "National Highways" and it comes just 5 years since its last overhaul when it was known as the Highways Agency.
Naturally the government has come under intense criticism - the TPA very much agrees with the Labour party who called the proposals "perplexing". At a time when the nation is bowing under mounting debt and unemployment, essential services and frontline staff must be prioritised over what is nothing more than a vanity project.
Highways England is already deeply unpopular with motorists after their disastrous rollout of ‘smart’ motorways. Instead of a rebrand, the TPA is telling the government to rethink before spending millions of pounds of taxpayers' cash.
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Harry Fone
Grassroots Campaign Manager
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