Shadow Chancellor Rachel Reeves has told the Labour Party conference that if her party wins the next General Election she will undertake a major review of all existing tax reliefs, scrapping those that are deemed not to benefit taxpayers and the wider economy. 

A slew of tax breaks for the private rental sector have been scrapped in recent years by successive Conservative governments, making buy to let a much more financially perilous exercise than in the past, despite the growing demand for lettings properties.

Reeves told the conference: ““There are hundreds of different tax breaks in the system.

“Some are important but too many simply provide loopholes for those who can afford the best advice. For businesses they create extra layers of complexity to navigate, and added together they cost more than our entire NHS budget.

“We will look at every single tax break. If it doesn’t deliver for the taxpayer or for the economy then we will scrap it.

“Labour will tax fairly, spend wisely, and get our economy firing on all cylinders.”

Sir Keir Starmer, Labour’s leader, will address the conference tomorrow with speculation that he will develop an argument he put forward two weeks ago to the Local Government Association conference, suggesting he will introduce higher property taxation if he wins power.

Starmer told the LGA that paying for social care primarily through National Insurance, as planned by the government, was unfair.

He said: “Working people will pay more tax now, but might still have to sell their home to pay even more later. This is an unfair plan that doesn’t work. And who is left with the bill? It’s working people. It’s especially low earners and young people who have already borne the brunt of the economic impact of the pandemic.”

And he said the government left “a private landlord renting out multiple properties not paying a penny more in tax, and their hard-working tenants to pick up the burden”.

He added: “The money [for social care] could have been raised by taxing the incomes of landlords, and those who buy and sell large quantities of financial assets, stocks shares”.