The highest property taxes in the developed world are to be found in the UK.
Residents of the UK pay twice as much as the international average, according to the influential think tank Policy Exchange.
Property taxes in Britain cost the equivalent of 4.1% of gross domestic product – around £70 billion — in 2011, the think tank said. The OECD average is 1.8%.
Elsewhere it was shown that the amount of stamp duty paid on an average house sale has nearly doubled since 2008.
With property prices rising, the average amount paid when buying is close to £6,700, up from less than £4,200 in 2007-08, the Council of Mortgage Lenders reported.
An increasing number of house buyers are being forced into higher tax bands because the government has not altered the tax threshold.
Stamp duty starts at 1% on sales between £125,000 and £250,000, rising to 3% on sales of up to £500,000 and 4% on houses up to £1 million. While house sales are still fewer than during the boom years, the government’s take on stamp duty is set to equal the amounts raised then, according to bank estimates.
In 2007-08, there were 1.6 million housing transactions, which resulted in stamp duty of £6.7 billion. It is believed that this year’s total tax take will be close to £6.7 billion – even though there will be only around 1 million sales this year.
In addition, many people fear that local authorities will impose higher council tax despite attempts by the government to freeze it.
A survey has found that one in three councils is threatening to increase taxes next year.
Policy Exchange has calculated that even without new taxes, British property is already the most heavily taxed of any country in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, which comprises 34 developed nations.
Greater taxes are likely to depress the property market. Instead, it said, the government should be aiming to see that more new properties are built.
