Homeowners face punishing new local tax
Bills could TRIPLE under ‘madcap’ Green plan to replace council tax
MIDDLE-CLASS families face a new raid on their finances after sNP ministers agreed to consider controversial Green plans to reform council tax.
The scottish Government wants to make local tax ‘more progressive’ and said it would look at the minority party’s punishing suggestions.
Left-wing parties are expected to unite to demand more changes to council tax when the issue is debated at Holyrood tomorrow.
scots are already braced for a double whammy next week when income tax increases for everyone earning more than £33,000 a year and council tax soars by 3 per cent.
The Greens joined forces with the sNP last month to force through a Budget that added hundreds of pounds to the tax bills of middle-class scots and put 1.1million earning more than £26,000 a year on the highest income tax rates in the UK.
alexander stewart, local government spokesman for the scottish conservatives, said: ‘When the Greens call for a “fairer” tax system, we all know what that means. They want to punish hard workers across the country.
‘Even those on modest salaries, or living in very normal homes in certain parts of the country, would be hammered if this went through. Taxpayers in scotland will be hoping the Greens’ cosy relationship with the sNP, which has already seen two Budgets go through, won’t lead to these madcap changes, too.’
Last year, the Government forced through reforms to council tax which meant bills increased by up to £106 in band E, by £207 in band F, by £335 in band G and by £517 in band H. It also ended the council tax freeze.
From next month, every council tax bill in scotland will rise by a further 3 per cent after all 32 local authorities followed scottish Government guidance.
The two increases will see an extra £225million taken from the pockets of scots families.
But the Greens want to go even further and will use the Holyrood debate to urge the scottish Government to scrap council tax and introduce a ‘fairer’ replacement.
The Greens support a locally set residential property tax based on around 1 per cent of a property’s value. It would see tax rises for all properties in band D and above, with bills for band G homes doubling and band H tripling.
a policy document from the 2016 Holyrood election suggested a band D home paying around £1,150 council tax at the time would face a £1,500 bill under the reform.
andy Wightman, local government spokesman for the Greens, said: ‘The public are being penalised with an outdated, unfair system under which most households are paying the wrong amount.
‘successive scottish governments have ducked this issue but with a parliament of minorities, we have a chance to build on the agreement struck during the 2015 cross-party commission on Local Tax Reform that the present council tax system must end.
‘In the same way that Green pressure has resulted in a shift toward a fairer system of income tax, with lower earners paying less and higher earners paying more, we must see a shift in local tax so we have a fairer system that gives local authorities flexibility to raise the funds they need for local services.’
Insisting that ‘after years of talking, it’s deeds not words that count’, he called for movement on the issue before the summer.
Labour yesterday said it backs abolishing council tax and replacing it with a new property tax, while the Liberal Democrats have also backed reform.
Finance secretary Derek Mackay said: ‘This Government remains committed to making local taxation more progressive and we have made clear that we are open to further dialogue on options for local tax reform.
‘That is why, working with cosla, we have launched a Local Governance Review, which will make sure
‘Hammered if this went through’ ‘Open for further dialogue’
communities have more say about how public services in their area are run.’
He added: ‘We have also made council tax fairer and included a 25 per cent increase to the child allowance in the reforms that were introduced last year. The scheme was extended in april 2017 to provide relief for low to middle income households from the impact of the council tax reforms on properties in bands E-H.
‘and we have invested over £1.4billion in the council Tax Reduction scheme since 2013-14, assisting almost half a million households each year to meet their council tax. In addition, the scottish Land commission is researching Land Value Tax in the wider context of Land Reform.’