The problem with the mansion tax is that it’s badly designed

Abstract:

The “mansion tax” was arguably the standout policy in the last Budget. At the time, the feeling among many in the property industry was that it could have been worse — an annual charge starting at £2,500 on homes above £2mn hardly felt like it had the market-distorting potential of some of the other ideas that were being mooted. That didn’t stop it being met with howls of outrage, of course. It has been branded by some as “anti-aspirational”, “spiteful” and a “burglar’s charter”. My problem with it is somewhat different: I think it’s very poorly designed.