Cost of living crisis symptom of growing inequality

We contribute to the spiralling wealth of billionaires and the mega-profits of corporates while they cash-in on rising prices, writes Jamie Livingstone

We're told the UK will soon face its highest “tax burden” since the end of the Second World War. Coupled with spiralling living costs, it means a major squeeze on household incomes.

Times are tough for many people, including a growing number who may have had little cause for worry before. Some may well be questioning the level of tax they will be asked to pay. But would you consider your tax contribution to be a “burden” if you could draw a line between it and aninterventionthatpreventsachild from having to go to school hungry? Or if you knew it was helping an unpaid carer to turn the heating on for their loved one?

Howaboutifyoucouldseeyourtax pounds helping just one of the millionsofpeoplestandingontheprecipiceoffamineineastafricabecause oftheclimatewreckingemissionsof countries, including Scotland? Of course, it’s not that simple. Our tax is spent on a multitude of things.

We also can’t be sure it is always spentaseffectivelyasitmightbe.but for all these caveats, the inescapable factisthattaxisavitaltoolinbuilding thefairerandgreenersocietymostof ussaywewant.ideally,oureconomy would share its rewards much more evenly from the start, but too often it failstodoso.globally,the“costofliving” crisis is a symptom of the growing inequality crisis.

Perversely, we are all required to contribute towards the spiralling wealth of billionaires and the megaprofitsofcorporates,whiletheycashin on rising prices. At the same time levels of extreme poverty are surging,reversingdecadesofdecline.our already extremely unequal world is now even more so.

Those on low incomes in Scotland, including those who care for someone, are sounding the alarm and Scotland’s Children’s Commissioner saysthatwhatheis“seeingandhearing” from children is “really terrifying”. Faced with such glaring need, all governments must choose to use tax to protect people.

The UK Chancellor rightly asked for a bit more money from those who can afford it, while extending the windfall tax on oil and gas companies. But with a damaging spending squeeze to come, he should have done much more, especially on taxing wealth.

Jeremyhunt’sdecisionsonincome Taxdon’tautomaticallyapplyinscotland,sothescottishgovernmenthas the chance to do better when it publishes its Budget on December 15. It describesthefinancialcontextas“by far, the most challenging since devolution”, with 40-year high inflation and the knock-on efforts of nurses, teachers and others to secure muchneededpayrises.buttheycanusethis Budget to increase resources for the nextfinancialyearbyusingdevolved taxes, building on an approach to tax which has been marginally more progressive in recent years when compared to the rest of the UK.

Ministers must now go further and use all of their existing tax levers to ensurethosewiththemostpaymore tofundthepublicservicesandsocial security that those on low-incomes are made to rely on disproportionately. But they must also place Scotland on a path towards new and fairer taxation on wealth and on carbon emissions.

Too many governments shy away from fairer tax on high incomes, wealth and polluters. The Scottish Government cannot be one of them. Jamie Livingstone, Head of Oxfam Scotland