Mansion tax could replace 50p rate, says Cable | This is Money

Mansion tax could replace 50p rate, says Cable | This is Money

Wealthy homeowners could face a levy on their mansions in exchange for scrapping the 50p top rate of income tax, Business Secretary Vince Cable has suggested.

The Liberal Democrat Cabinet minister resurrected the prospect of a property tax on high-value homes as he signalled that anything above 40p tax on income was unreasonable.
Chancellor George Osborne revealed during last week's Budget that the 50p tax - introduced last year and levied on income above £150,000 - was 'temporary' and that he would look at scrapping it.

Mr Cable said he was fully behind those plans, but he added that people still wanted the wealthy to pay their fair share.

'The emphasis may well have to shift from high marginal rates of tax on income, which are undesirable, to taxation of wealth, including property, and the Chancellor said that, as much as that in his Budget,' he told the Radio 5 Live's Pienaar's Politics.