Lib Dems face choice over land tax policy

With the party conference season looming, there appears to be dissention in the ranks of the Lib Dems over their policy proposals for tax reform. Vince Cable’s “Mansion tax” idea has already antagonised a significant number of Lib Dem voters, particularly in London where a family home can easily top £1m in value. However the proposals remain vague, with no firm notion of what might constitute a “Mansion”.
Although a recent YouGov poll suggests that 63% of voters support the idea, this probably reflects the fact that most people want the burden of tax to fall on those richer than themselves, perhaps the people Nick Clegg had in mind when he recently said that the Coalition will "review how people at the very top seek to avoid taxes and to make sure ... owners for instance of high-value property, cannot avoid paying their fair share."
Another Lib Dem idea would be the cutting down of Capital Gains Tax Private Residence Relief on properties worth more than £1m, and yet another is for a kind of super Council Tax to be levied. But as the party conference season approaches, the Lib Dems will have to decide whether such risky tax policies are worth pursuing, and it may be that the party leadership will decide which policy to back quietly without raising the matter with members at the autumn conference, to try to avoid discord within party ranks.