From the Daily Mail
Sir Michael Caine was among a string of stars who left the country in the Seventies to escape the punitive 83 per cent income tax rate.
Although the actor is now happily ensconced back in Britain on his Surrey estate, Ed Miliband’s proposed mansion tax has got him worried again.
‘This is a preposterous and silly tax, and I’m very unhappy about it,’ he tells me. ‘I’ve also got a two-bedroom flat in Chelsea Harbour and, due to its value, that’s now a mansion as well.
So, sell it, then. You don't need to live in London, you can live anywhere in the UK with your job.
‘The tax will be based on current property values, but what if there’s a property slump and it goes down? Will I get my money back?’
If I have a good year at work, followed by a crappy year, do I get my income tax back?
Caine and his wife, Shakira, own a Chelsea Harbour penthouse and Keston Lodge, a Tesco-style country mansion in Leatherhead surrounded by 20 acres, which he bought for £1 million in 1999.
Right, so live near Leatherhead. Perfectly nice place to live, and if it was £1m in 1999, it's probably a whisker under £2m now.
‘I feel sorry for all the older people who’ve worked hard all their lives and their London suburban house falls into this category,’ adds Sir Michael, 81, speaking at his artist chum Adam Bricusse’s Kaleido preview party at the Lights of Soho gallery.
Who did nothing to end up with £2m houses.
Caine, the son of a fish porter and a charlady, is worth £50 million after appearing in more than 80 films.
So, why's he bothered about the frankly paltry amount of tax that his £2m house will cost? Few grand a year, he makes a lot more than that for 5 minutes on screen as the elderly sage in all of Christopher Nolan's films.
It does have to be asked, though: How much would his house price fall if he blew the bloody doors off?
Debate Magazine
