Tories warn Labour planning stealth tax raid as they pledge 'family home tax guarantee'

Jeremy Hunt today (THURS) promises that no one will face a tax hike on their home under a Conservative government.

The Chancellor issued a pledge to keep down council tax, stamp duty and other levies if they hold on at the election.

It comes as Labour went into a tailspin over tax after Keir Starmer failed to rule out a £2,000 tax hike for families.

Mr Hunt insisted the Tories will keep costs down after getting the economy back on track in the wake of the covid pandemic.

He said: “We know that Keir Starmer is going to raise your taxes by £2,094 but he won’t tell you where that money is going to come from because he doesn’t have a plan.

“Rachel Reeves has previously called for a range of damaging new taxes on the family home just like Labour are looking at doing in Labour-run Wales; and that means she and Keir Starmer are coming for your family home.

“Only Rishi Sunak and the Conservatives will protect your family home to give you peace of mind with our guarantee that there will be no rises in such taxes for the whole of the next Parliament.”

Under the new “family home tax guarantee” the Conservatives rule out increasing the number of council tax bands or undertake an expensive council tax revaluation as Labour is currently doing in Wales.

Council tax discounts will also be maintained, the Tories said, along with private residence relief so people’s homes are protected from Capital Gains Tax.

And the party promised there will be no increase in the level of Stamp Duty.

The Tories warn a Starmer government will follow the lead of Labour-run Wales, where council tax is being hiked up by stealth.

A revaluation of the bands each home falls into is being carried out across 1.5 million properties in the nation.

Welsh Labour is looking at increasing the number of council tax bands from nine to 12.

The Welsh government will use satellites to spy on homes to work out their new council tax bands to verify the size of houses and gardens.

Shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves has called for a council tax revaluation in the past, say it is “long overdue”.

Sir Keir was left reeling in the first televised debate of the election campaign after the Prime Minister repeatedly warned voters the Labour leader was planning a £2,000 tax grab to fund his spending plans.

Despite a dozen opportunities to rule out any intention to raid family finances, Sir Keir failed to do so, eventually only saying the claim was “garbage” without explicitly ruling it out.

After realising the damage to his campaign that the £2,000 tax bombshell warning was doing, under-pressure Sir Keir claimed the PM was lying yesterday (WED).

The figure was first published by the Conservatives three weeks ago with a document setting out the policies they have included and the Treasury analysis of how much each would cost.

It shows a £38.5 billion blackhole at the heart of Labour’s spending plans.

Despite having had plenty of time to work through the document ahead of the debate, Sir Keir failed to explain why the details included were wrong.

Leading economists have said the Labour Party cannot meet its pledges without increasing taxes, borrowing more and cutting spending.

But Sir Keir has repeatedly insisted he will fill the gap by increasing economic growth other than the tax hikes he has already announced.

They include increasing VAT on private schools, leading some to warn they are facing collapse as families will struggle to meet the rise in fees.

As the tax row rumbled on yesterday (WED), Sir Keir also refused to rule out other tax cuts, telling reporters only that he had “no plans” to raise inheritance tax.

He added: “In fact none of our plans involve tax rises over and above the ones we’ve spelled out.

“All of our plans are fully costed and fully funded, but it’s important that I get across that we will not be increasing tax on working people, so no increase in income tax, in national insurance or VAT.”

Most of the estimated costings in the tax dossier released by the Tories were produced by civil servants at the Treasury, using assumptions made by special advisers based on policies announced by Labour.

One of the assessments was made by an independent private firm as it was based on details of a policy announced too late to be included in the Treasury assessment.

Energy Secretary Claire Coutinho warned all Labour ministers would do is “raise people’s bills”.

She said: “You look at Ed Miliband’s plans for energy in this country and all he would do is raise people’s bills and raise taxes to pay for it.

“Ultimately, when it comes to the Conservatives, my priority is always going to be to make sure we can have cheaper energy and cheaper bills for people.

“So, whether it’s the tariff reforms which can save people £900 a year or standing charges or anything else, my priority is cheaper energy, whereas Ed Miliband’s priority is to decarbonise further and faster than anybody else when it comes to major economies, no matter what the cost is for working families.”