Moderates: reforms will not harm homeowners
The Moderate Party has dismissed reports that their plans to abolish property tax will hit people with large mortgages.
In an interview with Swedish Radio on Tuesday, Moderate leader Fredrik Reinfeldt had said that one way of financing the tax would be to reduce tax relief on mortgage interest. The idea was slammed by housing organizations and the other Alliance parties, who said that the proposal would hit people with large mortgages, young families.
But on Wednesday Moderate Party secretary Sven-Otto Littorin categorically ruled out any reforms to property tax and interest tax relief that would lead to a rise in the cost of living for particular groups.
"We've tried to be as clear as possible about property tax," Littorin told The Local.
"We have to finance it out of the state budget, of course, but we have also said very clearly that we are not going to do it in a way that jeopardizes people's cost of living."
"Abolishing property tax is not a simple operation, which is why we've said that in the first phase we are going to freeze property valuations, and in the next step we're going to see how we can abolish it and change it into some form of local property tax," he said.
Comments
See Also
In an interview with Swedish Radio on Tuesday, Moderate leader Fredrik Reinfeldt had said that one way of financing the tax would be to reduce tax relief on mortgage interest. The idea was slammed by housing organizations and the other Alliance parties, who said that the proposal would hit people with large mortgages, young families.
But on Wednesday Moderate Party secretary Sven-Otto Littorin categorically ruled out any reforms to property tax and interest tax relief that would lead to a rise in the cost of living for particular groups.
"We've tried to be as clear as possible about property tax," Littorin told The Local.
"We have to finance it out of the state budget, of course, but we have also said very clearly that we are not going to do it in a way that jeopardizes people's cost of living."
"Abolishing property tax is not a simple operation, which is why we've said that in the first phase we are going to freeze property valuations, and in the next step we're going to see how we can abolish it and change it into some form of local property tax," he said.
Join the conversation in our comments section below. Share your own views and experience and if you have a question or suggestion for our journalists then email us at [email protected].
Please keep comments civil, constructive and on topic – and make sure to read our terms of use before getting involved.
Please log in here to leave a comment.