Mr Burnham criticised the unfairness of the current tax system and said there are “big decisions ahead”
Prime Minister Andy Burnham has ruled out scrapping stamp duty after reports suggested he planned to get rid of the tax. He told reporters that “won’t be happening” during a visit to Portsmouth on Monday, but he did pledge to “make taxation fairer”.
It comes after Mr Burnham criticised the unfairness of the current council tax system, telling the BBC there are “big decisions ahead”. Downing Street dismissed suggestions the Prime Minister is actively considering removing council tax, saying they are “not true”.
Stamp duty is paid on property sales from £125,000 upwards. First-time buyers benefit from not having to pay any on purchases up to £300,000, however the relief ends at prices over £500,000. Asked if he will change or scrap stamp duty in the next budget, Mr Burnham told reporters: “That won’t be happening.
“I don’t know actually where some of the stories that have appeared over the last 24 hours have come from. It seems that somebody within, I don’t know, 100 yards of me can say something, and then all of a sudden it’s my policy. Or someone can pass me something, and then I support everything within the document.
“It’s just not the case that we are bringing forward plans on that scale at this moment in time.”
He added: “What we’re trying to do, though, is to make taxation fairer. I removed VAT off electricity bills, said we would do that, and that will come through later in the year. We are looking at how we take that little bit of pressure off people’s shoulders, reduce the cost of living.”
Mr Burnham has previously said he has been “persuaded” of the argument for reforming the system. Speaking to Laura Kuenssberg on the BBC’s Panorama programme, he said: “There are people here in Greater Manchester who pay a much higher council tax than people living in much larger homes in London.
“So the Chancellor before, Rachel Reeves, was right to start to reform council tax to create some fairness there in relation to people in homes that are of much greater value, who haven’t seen their council tax go up over the years because of the failure to revalue the banding. So that’s an example of something that I think was right and fair.”
Mr Burnham added: “We need to honour the manifesto upon which Labour was elected, and if I was to bring forward any changes, obviously people would rightly say, well, is this consistent with that manifesto?
“So there are big decisions ahead, you are right about that.”
The Prime Minister’s official spokesman said: “As has always been the case, decisions on tax are a matter for the Chancellor to set out at fiscal events.”
Labour has come under pressure from its backbenches to reform council tax, including from chairman of the cross-party group of MPs on council tax reform, Jonathan Brash. The Labour MP for Hartlepool told the i Paper “wholesale reform” was needed. Mr Brash has previously pointed to band A homes in Hartlepool paying nearly 2.5 times more than in Westminster.
He said: “Council tax is one of the most unfair taxes in Britain, and nowhere is that injustice clearer than in towns like Hartlepool.”
The Conservatives criticised any potential change as Labour “looking for more ways to tax middle England”. Shadow housing secretary Sir James Cleverly said: “Andy Burnham and Labour are just looking for more ways to tax middle England, and raise taxes on people’s homes.
“Replacing council tax and stamp duty with a new house price tax would not be a tax cut for hardworking families – quite the reverse: people across England would end up paying more. This is just smoke and mirrors from the party that has already hiked both council tax and stamp duty.
“The Conservatives are the only party that will keep tax on the family home down – including by scrapping stamp duty entirely for primary residences.”
