We should look at impact of all the taxes the parties are proposing

I NOTE with interest the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) report on the impact of income tax proposals put forward by the political parties in advance of the Scottish Parliament election (“Revealed: The great election tax divide”, The Herald, April 13).

SNP proposals would leave all but the richest one-fifth of households untouched or better off, with the richest one-tenth being £200 worse off per year.

In comparison, Labour’s proposal would see the second poorest tenth of households £20 per year worse off, then rise through the income tax scale with the richest tenth paying an extra £2,850 in tax.

With some of the poorest in our society paying more tax under Labour this is a clear tax grab by the Labour Party on those who can least afford it.

The Tories have made great light of keeping with the UK Government’s tax regime and claiming that Scotland will somehow become the “highest taxed” part of the UK and lead to individuals heading south.

What this neglects to mention is the Tory “stealth taxes” including prescription charges and university tuition fees. Prescription charges, currently £8.40 in England, are highly regressive and a tax on the sick, and the imposition of university fees of £6,000 would see a graduate on an average full-time salary paying 4p more in tax on every pound.

The key issue here is not just to examine income tax alone, but to look at what impact the burden of all taxes that the political parties intend to introduce will be. Now, that would prove an interesting piece of research. Alex Orr, Flat2, 77 Leamington Terrace, Edinburgh. THE embattled position between the SNP and Labour over devolved taxes has shifted polarity this week, after the IPPR found that the Scottish Government’s outright U-turn on their determined pledge to tax the better off may cost Holyrood in excess of £900 million a year. Conversely, the Scottish Government’s decision to penalise only middle income earners will raise only £300m.

John Swinney described Scottish Labour’s plan as authorising a “cash grab” on Scotland’s poorest, giving the impression that it proposes to tax those less well-off astronomical sums of money on a yearly basis. In actual fact, Scottish Labour proposals would mean a levy of around £2 a year, or slightly less than 4p a week. The IPPR itself classed the increase as “so low” that it had classed the percentage increase as 0 per cent for that particular demographic.

Even more embarrassing for Mr Swinney, the IPPR discovered that even the Scottish Greens’ plans would raise more than £650m more than his own proposals and the LibDems’ scheme £450m more.

Clearly, Mr Swinney should consider replacing the batteries in his calculator. Mark Ward, 60 Dalmellington Road, Crookston, Glasgow.