OAPs mugged

There is an irony about the Chancellor’s choice of OAPs as a source of revenue to pay for the tax cuts for the seriously wealthy, because those most vocal against LVT have claimed that it would hit elderly widows. All of a sudden, they no longer matter.

The increase in stamp duty is idiotic. It raises little revenue since the tax liability only arises on the sale of a property. In addition, unless the Chancellor has been very clever, there will be a loophole somewhere so that it can be avoided.

One might at least have expected the Chancellor to steer clear of a measure that would play so badly in the media, and for so little gain. OAPs have already been heavily affected by the artificially low interest rates and the inflation caused by QE, which still has to run its course. From our point of view the only thing that can be said for it is that it exposes the “LVT would hit widows” argument as pure hypocrisy.