Posts Tagged ‘council tax’

Double Glazing Green Tax?

Tuesday, September 1st, 2009

Fact: Double glazing increases the energy efficiency of your home, therefore reducing climate change and your energy bills.

Problem: The government recognise this fact and in a desperate attempt to reach their target for reducing carbon dioxide emissions from home heating by 29 per cent, there are rumours circulating that homes without double glazing could end up falling into higher council tax bands as a green penalty.

This appears to be countermanded by similar rumours concerning a detailed tax on properties, which takes into account views, conservatories and … you guessed it Double Glazing!

Does the term ‘dammed if you do, dammed if you don’t’ spring to mind?

Tax on Conservatories – Whatever Next?

Monday, August 24th, 2009

Ludicrous new plans have been unearthed regarding a new government stealth tax on everything from views, to parking spaces, patios and conservatories! The proposed taxation on would be imposed through the council tax system and has already come under serious scrutiny and heavy opposition .

Perhaps more controversial than the proposed tax itself is the investigative work, already undertaken by the Labour government, into over 100,000 individual homes. Aside from the strong moral objection to the nanny state, surely the money spent alone in employing tax collectors to carry out in-depth assessments on everything from the width of a balcony to the extent of the view, cannot possibly be justified?

The extent of the surveying is mind-boggling; even the difference in the type of conservatory would be considered a contributory factor when calculating the level of added tax. The Valuation Office Agency, which is compiling the massive database of every home, has divided the three-quarters of a million people with conservatories into groups, for example, double-glazed conservatories will be hit harder than those with single glazing or lean-to’s.

Malcolm Moss, MP for North East Cambridgeshire, has today been quoted as saying “Only Labour would think of taxing people for having double-glazed windows or a patio. I hope Gordon Brown will see sense and scrap these plans immediately.” – We can but hope!

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