…the blog and website of Andy Wightman
The Mirror carries a report today (13 April 2013) that the house that Margaret Thatcher lived in for the past 20 years is “owned” by a company called Bakeland Property Company Ltd. registered in the British Virgin Islands. The story
Continue readingWhen I was at University in 1980s studying forestry, Forestry Commission land was being sold off and the private sector was booming with generous tax breaks on offer to investors to plant trees. Particular controversy erupted over the rapid expansion
Continue readingDavid Lloyd George and Winston Churchill. A Land Value Tax for England. Fair, Efficient, Sustainable (4.1Mb pdf) Over the past few months I have been undertaking research for Caroline Lucas MP into how a system of site value rating or land
Continue readingPictured above – a Danish kindergarten paid for in part by Danish property taxes on Scottish land. The Scottish Government is consulting on the future of the the non-domestic rates (business rates) regime. The consultation closes this Friday 22 February
Continue readingOn the day that George Osborne is due to deliver his 2012 Autumn statement, I thought it might be worth reminding ourselves of what he thought of the Irish economy in 2006 when, on 23 February he gave a speech
Continue readingSimon Pia, writing in today’s Scotsman, provides a welcome reminder that property tax in Scotland is in a mess with politicians of most persuasions (he quite rightly excludes the Scottish Greens & their LVT proposals) have avoided this thorny issue
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Scottish Government’s Council of Economic Advisers with Professor James Mirrlees 2nd from right. The Scottish Government has been consulting on a replacement for Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) – one of the devolved taxes in the Scotland Act 2012. The consultation
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The Earl of Hopetoun, Prince Michael of Kent, The Countess of Hopetoun and Princess Michael of Kent Last night in our ScottishSix show, the topic of Lesley Riddoch’s talk was “Harpies & Quines – is this still Macho Caledonia.” It
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The following was first published as a Guest Column in the West Highland Free Press on 3 August 2012. The subject matter is one of a large number of vital topics that should be addressed by the Scottish Government’s Land
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Today the Bank of England and HM Treasury launched the Funding for Lending scheme (full details here) designed to enable banks to lend more money to the “real economy” (i.e. not financial institutions). But, as the above graphic shows, the
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