Councils could set their own taxes in planned overhaul

A string of new taxes, including localised stamp duty, income tax and sales charges, are to be considered by ministers, under plans unveiled by town hall chiefs yesterday.

Nick Raynsford, the Local Government minister, will look at the plans as part of an overhaul of the amount of money councils receive locally and from Whitehall.

The Local Government Association (LGA) published a document calling for a shift to local taxes that would give authorities more control over their finances and cut dependence on central Government.

Among the measures proposed is the right to set a local stamp duty on property sales, a local road tax, more congestion charges and sales taxes, land value taxes, charges on utilities for digging up roads and tourist taxes.

The "assigned revenue" scheme has worked for some years in European countries.