The Conservative Party has refused to take a firm line on stamp duty in its business mini-manifesto, released today.
Stamp duty, held by many Tories to be the original Labour stealth tax, was barely mentioned in the 20-page Common Sense for Business, and its impact on property transactions was ignored.
Instead of calling for the tax to be frozen, the mini-manifesto pledged to “review the operation of stamp duty on share transactions &to examine options for reform.”
Shadow Treasury spokesman David Heathcoat-Amory told EGi: “The fact is that stamp duty on property is a very difficult thing to unravel. Of course we are aware of the damage that the ratcheting-up of stamp duty causes to business. Its the original stealth tax. Just because it isn’t dealt with in the manifesto, doesn’t mean that we won’t try to reform it.”
Heathcoat-Amory said that he was not in a position to say whether stamp duty would be cut. “It’s unlikely that we would want to increase it. We certainly wouldn’t see it as an opportunity to bring in more revenue,” he said.
One Conservative supporter found the lack of policy less than satisfactory.
Michael Slade, managing director of Helical Bar, who signed a letter to the Daily Telegraph commending the Conservatives’ policies, said: “The fact that stamp duty hasn’t gone into the Tories’ manifesto is a condemnation of the property industry’s inability to get their message across.”
EGi News 21/05/01
