Senior Partner and leading property lawyer John Stephenson of Bircham Dyson Bell LLP believes that the 'mansion tax' which was originally in the Lib Dem election manifesto but not adopted in the coalition agreement, was only floated by the Government to test the water and gauge reaction, and was never a serious Government strategy.
"It's such an impractical way of taxing people that I just don't believe it was ever really a serious consideration for the Government," explains John Stephenson.
"It would have given any political party, pledging to ban it in the future, swathes of votes especially in the Home Counties - and could easily have tipped the balance in any election.
"It would have been completely impossible to implement and monitor fairly, vastly costly in terms of appeals where the value was close to the threshold, and there would have been endless arguments over the valuation of properties and what the proper indexation provision should be.
"And of course, some households would have been at a major disadvantage, for example where there may be one elderly person and a carer, or perhaps a single parent family. The whole idea of a mansion tax was superficially attractive to those who see property as easier to tax than people, but could have proved terribly unjust.
"I applaud the Government for condemning it - but I don't believe that it was ever a serious consideration. I truly believe they were testing the water to see what reaction they got. Now they know, I don't think we will hear of it again."
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