Council Tax freeze – Tories go with instincts
We do not particularly approve of the Council Tax but it at least has the merits of being a property tax. A cut in this tax has the immediate effect of pushing up rents and preventing the fall of house prices to realistic levels. So in announcing a Council Tax freeze “to help pensioners and the low paid”, the Chancellor is running true to Tory instincts in protecting property values at all costs.
There is no sense in this. If the Chancellor has money for tax cuts – this will cost £800 million, he could have raised income tax thresholds, so as to make work pay, or reduced VAT so as to bolster demand.
One has to wonder if the Chancellor has the slightest idea what he is doing.