Back with the UK public finances, and Labour MP Stella Creasy has found a tax loophole she believes could bring in some £8bn to the public purse. She writes:

There is a country that taxes British residents, and British companies, when they make money on selling commercial real estate, but doesn’t tax foreigners. That country is the UK. Closing the tax loophole around non-UK companies and commercial property sales would level the playing field for British businesses and at the same time help tackle the overheated housing market. It would also generate substantial revenue – enough to cover the entire public health budget for a year, for example.

According to the British Property Federation there is about £871bn worth of commercial real estate in the UK – 10% of our nation’s net wealth. Not only is this hugely important in its own right, its value impacts on the price of land, and hence of new homes. About 20% of commercial real estate is sold each year – worth an eye-watering £115bn in 2015, according to Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs.

When a seller is a UK individual or company, they are subject to UK corporation tax on their capital gains. Yet where the seller is foreign they are not. Approximately one-third of all UK commercial real estate – including most high value property – is held through offshore companies. Typically these companies are in tax havens, or structured so they pay no tax on the capital gain. Indeed, British taxpayers should be asking tough questions as to why their government turns a blind eye to anyone who holds UK property in offshore companies.