Labour peer says ​Labour's proposed mansion tax will hit giving and legacies

A Labour peer has said plans to impose a mansion tax in England and Wales will have a “catastrophic” impact on charitable giving in the UK.

Lord Winston, the geneticist and television presenter, said that the tax would have “a serious knock-on effect” for charities.

He said cancer research was an area that could lose out.

And charities that relied on legacies were particularly at risk said Winston.

I think that will actually have an effect on charities like Cancer Research UK, which relies to a huge extent on legacy gifts

“One very big consequence of this kind of announcement is that it makes it extremely difficult for people like myself to raise charitable donations for important causes,” Lord Winston said. “Because those liable to pay the mansion tax can’t calculate what will happen to their estate, they will start refusing one of the most important areas of giving, which is legacy gifts.

“I think that will actually have an effect on charities like Cancer Research UK, which relies to a huge extent on legacy gifts. There are a large number of charities that should be very worried about this announcement.”

The mansion tax, put forward by Labour’s Ed Balls, proposes an annual fee on homes worth more than £2 million.

It is thought 95% of the tax would be raised in London alone, leading to fears generous benefactors would shun charities.

Labour announced at its party’s conference that £1.3 billion raised by the mansion tax would be used to help to fund the NHS.