Should Rachel Reeves increase taxes on expensive homes? Have your say

As the autumn budget draws closer, speculation is ramping up as to what chancellor Rachel Reeves could announce and one of the latest rumours is that she could be planning a tax raid on the owners of expensive homes.

Creating new, higher council tax bands on the most expensive homes is one option that has been considered, according to a number of reports.

The FT reported that this is an idea that has been on the table since floated by Conservative chancellor George Osborne in 2012.

Council tax is charged on residential properties to help fund for local services, such as schools, rubbish collection and leisure centres. The amount is based on the value of someone's home, with rates running across eight bands of property value. The UK's council tax system is considered hugely outdated, as bands are still based on property valuations from 1991.

Read more: How to protect yourself against tax rises in the budget

Another option that has reportedly been considered is a 1% annual charge on the value of a property worth more than £2m, dubbed effectively as a "mansion tax".

Besides property tax, one of the latest reported rumours is that Reeves is considering an exit charge on wealthy Britons who leave the UK.

While these are speculated changes that have reportedly been eyed by the Treasury, Reeves has said that higher taxes on the wealthy would be "part of the story".

Economists expect that Reeves will likely need to announce billion in tax hikes in the budget on 26 November, to fill up a shortfall in the UK's public finances.

A spokesperson for the Treasury had not responded to Yahoo Finance UK's request for comment at the time of writing.

Do you think that Reeves should increase taxes on expensive homes? Vote in the poll below.

Yahoo UK's poll of the week lets you vote and indicate your strength of feeling on one of the week's hot topics. After the poll closes, we'll publish and analyse the results each Friday, giving readers the chance to see how polarising a topic has become and if their view chimes with other Yahoo UK readers.

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