Taxes and Property: an insight into RICS' study

Property Taxation - Time for Reform 03.02.2011.ppt - slides of a talk by Jeremy Edge to PLRG on 3rd Feb 2011.

Since the RICS launched their major study last summer, it is clear that the scope of what they are likely to recommend to Government by way of tax reform has narrowed. Whilst there are fundamental, long-term issues with the current tax structure - Jeremy was highly critical of how the industry is hit by taxes at every stage of the property cycle - the proposals emerging will be limited to a few reforms that RICS' consultants believe have best chance of being accepted by those in power.

Jeremy said that "there is a very clear opportunity to reform Stamp Duty Land Tax" and some chance that Government will review its decision to drop 'tariff-style' developers' contributions. He believes that Treasury are keen to find way od simplifying the way that tax operates and also of looking at ways of capturing land value uplift - but without a complete reform of the current Council Tax and Business Rates systems, if possible.

In the discussion that followed, there was general agreement that there is little scope for making the current tax system have a more benigh impact on construction without wholesale reform - and that a site-value based system would achieve much greater simplification as well as economic efficiency.