Following the news that Angela Rayner underpaid stamp duty on her Hove property, Greg Tsuman, managing director of lettings at Martyn Gerrard and former president of ARLA Propertymark, has weighed in on what the case reveals about deeper systematic issues.
Tsuman argues that the situation underscores just how complex and confusing the UK’s property tax system has become – even for senior government figures.
“If the Secretary of State for Housing doesn’t know what she is supposed to owe in property taxes, how can anyone else be expected to?,” asked Tsuman.
He continued: “This case exemplifies how byzantine the system for taxing property and income in this country has become. It is a shame that the Government is now investigating how it can add further charges and regulations, because there is already too much complexity. The result is cases like this, where rules are broken either because they’re too difficult to understand or they’re so onerous that it incentivises non-compliance.”
Tsuman also points to what he sees as a growing inconsistency in how the government treats property matters. The Rayner case comes less than a month after fellow Labour MP Rushanara Ali resigned from the shadow frontbench for evicting tenants in order to raise rents — a move that drew public and political criticism.
“There seems to be a systemic hypocrisy at play,” Tsuman adds. “These high-profile cases suggest we urgently need clarity and fairness in the way property is taxed and regulated — not just for politicians, but for everyone.”
There seems to be a systemic hypocrisy in this government when it comes to housing,” Tsuman continued. “It is baffling that they’re doubling down on more taxes and tougher laws when the conduct of the Ministers in charge shows that they’re already unworkable.”
“Perhaps the government should look at ways to simplify and reduce these archaic property taxes and regulatory burden so that they’re easier to comply with,” he added. “If that would help individuals like Ms Rayner to pay their dues, then perhaps the move could even increase revenues for the Treasury.”
Can she survive? Angela Rayner faces sack calls in tax ‘hypocrisy’ storm
