Peter
Viggers, MP for Gosport, this week expressed concern at
new laws pushed through Parliament that give council tax
inspectors the right to enter homes and fine householders.
Residents face fines of £1,000 a time, and then £200
every day after that, if they do not let the inspectors
into their home or if they fail to ‘assist’ the
town hall tax inspectors when inside their home. The new
laws are being piloted in Northern Ireland, with England
next in line.
- New
house price tax: A controversial new system of local government
taxation is being quietly introduced in Northern Ireland
as a testing ground for England’s looming council tax revaluation. Unlike
council tax, householders face a ‘house price tax’ – a
set percentage of the value of their home each year. This
tax will hit Northern Ireland in April, with Gordon Brown’s
review of town hall finances actively looking at the same
system for England.
- Big
Brother databases tax every home improvement: Under this
new house price tax, features like gardens, patios, conservatories,
double glazing, scenic views, number of bedrooms and
number of parking spaces, increase the size of the local
tax bill. The information is fed into a ‘Computer Assisted Mass Appraisal’ database;
the same ‘Big Brother’ technology has been
bought for both England and Northern Ireland.
- New
powers of entry: This new tax system requires detailed
information about every home. The Government has now pushed
new laws through Parliament through an obscure Committee
to give the town hall tax inspectors powers in Northern
Ireland to barge into local homes. Under ‘Article
38’ of the new law, householders will be forced to
let state officials into their homes. In a worrying addition,
residents who “fail to give reasonable assistance” or
do not collaborate with the inspectors will be fined £1,000
and be recorded on local police and court records. If the
householder continues to obstruct, hinder or fail to provide
assistance, they can be fined £200 per day on top.
Peter
said:“I am very concerned that Northern Ireland
is now being used as a testing ground for Gordon Brown’s
tax inspectors, from the levying of a new house price tax,
to the use of invasive Big Brother computer databases,
to new aggressive state powers to enter family homes.
“For
all of Labour’s talk of human rights, these new powers
for council tax inspectors are the footprint of an oppressive
and greedy government. Conservatives will resist these
new authoritarian powers and will stand up for people’s
property, privacy and liberty.” |
