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Homeowners who have parking spaces on the road outside their home face higher council tax bills - even if they don't have a car.

Ministers have admitted that the availability of parking outside people's properties will be considered by inspectors assessing how much council tax households should pay. The "parking tax"- which will come on top of the cost of residents' parking permits - has been condemned as unfair by the Tories.

The Independent on Sunday has learnt that, in addition to the size of a property and its location, the availability of on-road parking, is being considered as a contributor to its value. Propertieson wide roads could pay hundreds of pounds more than similar-sized homes nearby.

"There seems to be no lengths to which the Government will go to tax another attribute of your home," said the MP Caroline Spelman.Ministers have already admitted that a fish pond, animal hutch or an "attractive flower arrangement" could count in home valuations.

More than eight million homes are facing council tax increases because they enjoy nice views or for having off-street parking, claim the Tories.

Ministers have admitted they are building a database covering all 23million homes in England, and Conservatives say this means that residents of good neighbourhoods could be hit by huge council tax hikes.

Bills for next year are dropping on doormats up and down the country, with the Government expected to announce this week that in many areas the increases will exceed 5 per cent. The Conservatives revealed yesterseemsday that eight million homes have been logged on a "Big Brother" state database for having one or more offstreet parking places.

Details of the exact number of places - from one to "nine or more" - are kept on file.

A further 80,000 homes have been recorded for having a scenic view which impacts upon its value.

The database is broken down according to whether the house has views of the sea, hills, mountains, lakes, fields or golf courses.

Different codes are provided for "partial view" and "full view".

Conservative local government spokesman Eric Pickles said: "This is new evidence of the Labour Government's great council tax cover-up.

"Ministers' claims that the council tax revaluation in England was postponed have now been completely shredded.

"Every home in the country is being sized up, and every home improvement or sign of a nice neighbourhood, is slowly being photographed, catalogued and taxed by Gordon Brown's tax inspectors.

"Families face soaring bills for the crime of living in a nice neighbourhood. Only Labour would think of taxing people for looking out of their own windows."

Matthew Elliott, of the TaxPayers' Alliance, said: "Ministers are implementing revaluation by stealth, hoping that the public will blame local councils for rises in council tax."

Ministers have strenuously denied they are planning a revaluation of council tax bands, but the existence of a database to indicate that they have not ruled out a shake-up.

If a revaluation were to go ahead, officials have plans to evaluate council tax rates on the basis of a series of property attributes.

These include the number of parking spaces, number of bathrooms, number of bedrooms, whether the house is detached, and "value significant features" such as the beauty of the view, access to local transport and local shops.

If my employers want to get me "out of my car and on to public transport" that's fine by me.

However, the fact that I will then only be able to work for them between 11.30 am and 2.30 pm each Wednesday might be a bit of a drawback.

Yes, it's probably unpopular to say it but the "Poll Tax" is probably the most just system for local taxation as people use local services - not property. Everyone should pay something towards local services as they then feel involved and the mentality of "something for nothing" does not take root. I don't have a problem with subsidies for low income groups within this scheme.

A better tax would be a local tax based on income, per person.

Or better still a national tax on income which could then be distributed by a formula to local councils to provide services ...

Oh!

Poor people dont pay less for their beer, ciggies, petrol or to have ther electrics fixed or tap washers replaced. Why (in principle) should they pay less to have their bins emptied??

Well, people don't have to buy beer, ciggies or petrol, but the do have to pay tax.
If it is mandated by acts of government that people will pay tax, then the tax should be levied at a rate that is proportional to their ability to pay it.
A local income tax would address the anomoly of using the status of someones home as a proxy for their ability to pay. Due to changes in income and othe reasons, people do find themsleves living in a property they couldn't afford to re-purchase at the current market value, this being the metric for banding the property for council tax purposes.