Tax reforms set to see bills rise for households

MORE than 11,500 households in Dundee will have to shoulder council tax hikes regardless of whether local authorities increase the levy.

New figures from the Scottish Parliament Information Service show nearly half of homes i n Broughty Ferry will see their bills rise by as much as £545 this year.

In the West End, about a quarter of properties are hit by t h e S N P ’s tax reforms, which seek to make the better off pay a fairer share.

Meanwhile, Dundee City Council is facing a £12.5 million cut to its 2017-18 budget, j ust a year after a £23m reduction was agreed.

The Scottish Conservatives say the SNP is making families who are not particularly well-off dig deeper into their pockets for services that are being continually pared back because of funding cuts.

The SNP decided against scrapping council tax in favour of making those in Band E-H homes pay more.

Those hikes do not include a potential 3% council tax increase that local authorities will be allowed to impose in 201718 after nine years of a centrally-enforced freeze.

Homes fall into Band E, which in Dundee face a minimum tax rise of £111, if they were valued at between £58,001 and £80,000 in 1991.

Properties worth £212,001 and more back then are categorised as Band H and will be charged at least £545 more.

All of the local authorities in Tayside and Fife, including Dundee, say they are seriously considering introducing the maximum increase to offset central cuts to their core grants.

Scottish Conservative MSP for the North East Region Liam Kerr said “ordinary families” were being squeezed.

“The SNP will argue that they want the rich to pay more taxes, but I don’t think there is anyone living in a Band E or Band F home who would consider themselves particularly wealthy,” he said.

A Scottish Government spokesman said there would be no change for three out of four Scottish households from the reforms.