Houses with scenic views, conservatories, large garages and other features will be targeted by the mansion tax ‘police’ assessing who should pay a new punitive housing levy, it was claimed today.
Inspectors charged with working out which homes are worth enough to be hit by the new property raid have a checklist of features they can use to push up their taxable value.
They include a host of popular housing features as well as more subjective measures like the quality of the view and the architectural style of buildings.
The Conservative Party said an HMRC tax manual it obtained under freedom of information laws showed inspectors would also mark up homes with conservatories, balconies, large garages or larger numbers of car parking spaces.
They are included alongside more obvious signs of opulence like a swimming pool or tennis court, stabling and land for horses, annexes and outbuildings and whether the house was in a gated community.
In a move likely to cause alarm among farmers, the presence of farmland attached to the home will also be considered.
Ministers have previously admitted that valuation agents will be able to carry out ‘internal inspections’ of homes to check if they are worth more than the threshold £2million.
Anyone who refuses a visit from the HMRC inspectors would be committing a criminal offence, punishable by a fine of up to £200.
Inspectors charged with working out which homes are worth enough to be hit by the new property raid have a checklist of features they can use to push up their taxable value
Tory chairman Kevin Hollinrake said: ‘This is the sinister reality of Labour’s secret council tax snooping plot laid bare’
Tory chairman Kevin Hollinrake said: ‘This is the sinister reality of Labour’s secret council tax snooping plot laid bare. HMRC agents will soon be entering your home and noting down the number of bedrooms and bathrooms, parking spaces, balconies, conservatories and even the quality of the view out the window.
‘They will feed that information into their Big Brother database to bring more and more homes into the net for Labour’s new family homes tax. And hard-working families and pensioners face being spied on even if they don’t ultimately have to pay.
‘This is a huge invasion of privacy and another tool in Labour’s arsenal, developed to levy yet more tax on aspiration.’
The high-value council tax surcharge – often referred to as a mansion tax – will take effect in 2028 after being unveiled at last year’s Budget by then-Chancellor Rachel Reeves.
HMRC agents will use third-party data and publicly available information to value properties but will also be able to carry out ‘internal inspections’.
The Government’s budget watchdog estimated 165,000 properties will be affected in the policy’s first year, rising to 167,000 in 2030.
The surcharge will be introduced in four price bands, starting at £2,500 annually for properties worth more than £2million, rising to £7,500 for those exceeding £5million.
A re-evaluation of high-value homes will determine the new tax, which is expected to affect properties across council tax bands F, G and H.
A Government spokesman said: ‘The surcharge will apply to less than 1 per cent of properties in England.’
