Outdated council tax is slowing region’s growth, investor claims

A TOP tech investor has today called for a shake-up in property taxes across Yorkshire, because he believes that the outdated council tax system is the main barrier blocking the region’s growth.

Andrew Dixon, the founder of ARC InterCapital and the former vice-president at Goldman Sachs, has said that if the Government truly wants to level up Yorkshire’s economy, then it should replace the council tax system with a proportional property tax.

The call comes after the Government announced up to five per cent hikes in rates of council tax in last month’s Budget.

Mr Dixon argues that levelling up Yorkshire should start with abolishing council tax.

He said: “Britain’s property tax system is unfit for purpose. If we want to level up towns and cities across Yorkshire, we need wholesale, top to bottom reform of the tax system, starting with scrapping council tax, which is a national disgrace.”

Mr Dixon founded Fairer Share last year, a national grassroots campaign calling for council tax and stamp duty to be replaced with a proportional property tax. Under his proposed reforms through the campaign group, he said at least 83 per cent of all households across the 54 Yorkshire constituencies would find themselves better off.

He added: “As an investor and former Goldman Sachs banker, I’ve seen first-hand the impact tax policy can have on people. Council tax is one of the worst – it’s regressive, outdated and deeply unfair, leaving some of the most deprived areas, including constituencies in Yorkshire, at the very sharp end.”