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How encouraging is property tax?
Britons pay one of the highest proportions of property tax in the world, it has been revealed.
Researchers have found that £1 in every £8 which is paid to the taxman is levied on people’s homes and business premises.
This includes stamp duty, inheritance tax, council tax and business rates and has risen from £1 in every £12 in 1990.
Startling figures show the Government raked in almost £65billion in property taxes in 2012 – an increase of £6billion in just three years.
As a proportion of the total tax received, UK property tax is higher than in any other country analysed by The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).

Property tax in Britain is the equivalent of 4 per cent of GDP compared to an average of 1.8 per cent across the other 34 nations – and just 1 per cent in Germany, Sweden and Chile. Britons also hand over a higher proportion of income tax than the OECD average, but a lower percentage of national insurance contributions.
The figures come just days after the Treasury unveiled reforms to stamp duty in a bid to reduce the tax burden on people buying homes. Chancellor George Osborne replaced the much-hated ‘slab structure’ with a gradual system, which he claimed would benefit 98 per cent of house-movers.
The OECD looked at 34 mostly rich nations, from Japan to the United States, and found that, on average, £1 in every £18 of tax paid was on property.
In Austria the figure was just £1 in every £77, while in Australia and France it was £1 in £12.
UK taxpayers also pay the highest property taxes as a proportion of the country’s economic output, or GDP, according to the OECD.

Property tax in Britain is the equivalent of 4 per cent of GDP compared to an average of 1.8 per cent across the other 34 nations – and just 1 per cent in Germany, Sweden and Chile. Britons also hand over a higher proportion of income tax than the OECD average, but a lower percentage of national insurance contributions. (Oh dear look out, that will be noticed!)
The figures come just days after the Treasury unveiled reforms to stamp duty in a bid to reduce the tax burden on people buying homes. Chancellor George Osborne replaced the much-hated ‘slab structure’ with a gradual system, which he claimed would benefit 98 per cent of house-movers.
Many feel taxation of people’s property is a tax on the aspirations of hard-working families and removes the incentive to buy a home.
Property tax includes business rates, which retailers pay on shops they rent. Critics say this puts bricks and mortar stores at a disadvantage compared with online retailers.
Stephen Herring, of the Institute of Directors, welcomed a review of business rates announced during the Chancellor’s Autumn Statement, saying it should focus on reducing the burden for small and medium-sized firms.
Last night a Treasury spokesman said: ‘Reforms in the Autumn Statement mean we have cut stamp duty for 98 per cent of people who pay it and the tax bill for the average home is more than halved.
It would appear we still have a long way to go to encourage home ownership!