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Tories offer £150 council tax cut

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Published Date: 12 September 2008
By HAMISH MACDONELL
Scottish Political Editor
MONEY the Scottish Government has set aside to pay for a local income tax could be used to give all Scottish households a cut of £150 in their council tax bills, Annabel Goldie, the Tory leader claimed yesterday.
The Scottish Government has put forward plans to replace the council tax with a local income tax (LIT).

But the gap between what is raised under council tax and what could be raised by a local income tax of 3p in the pound will take £281 millio
n of taxpayers' money to fill – a figure Ms Goldie said would equate to £150 cut in council tax bills per household.

Miss Goldie branded the SNP proposals a "Scottish national income tax".

She told Alex Salmond at First Minister's Questions: "The Scottish Conservatives, with that money, would cut the council tax bill of every single household in Scotland, two million of them, by £150 each."

And she added: "In these rough economic times, real help is needed as soon as possible."

Mr Salmond replied that the Scottish Government's council tax freeze was a "good start" towards cutting people's bills.

He said: "I think the council tax freeze, something never achieved by the Conservative Party, who introduced the council tax and then increased it year after year, is a considerably good start in cutting the bills facing families across Scotland at the present moment."





The full article contains 234 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
Page 1 of 1

  • Last Updated: 12 September 2008 1:08 AM
  • Source: The Scotsman
  • Location: Edinburgh
 
1

connaughtboy,

stonehaven 12/09/2008 00:37:36
Annabel. Cut CT for EVERY household? Rich or poor?

That sounds like a vote loser if I ever heard one.

Something has happened to Bella over the holiday period. Now just a shadow of herself.
2

W U Merchant,

Aberdeen 12/09/2008 07:27:59
The calculation looks good to me. If the SNP say that the vast majority will be better off in the future with their local income tax, and if they say that the total tax grab will be less overall, why can't they not cut Council Tax levels now? Or haven't they done their sums again?
3

subrosa,

12/09/2008 07:30:11
# 1

I wondered if she meant it for every household but it appears she did. She just doesn't get it does she? Unusual for Annabel.

You see Annabel, the idea of LIT is that people pay a local income tax on a scale relevant to their income (ie ability to pay).
4

The Tin Man,

12/09/2008 07:39:10
#2 W U Merchant

The current CT freeze is a tax cut.

However, there is no such thing as a free lunch, as we can see in the closure of local charity organisations, postonement of the building of new schools etc, and the absence of the introduction of any new national infrastructure projects.

We get what we pay for. Instead of a charity for the disabled, we can go and put the down-payment on an LCD TV.

5

AM2,

Scotland,UK 12/09/2008 08:39:06
#1 connaughtboy

In the Conservatives' 2007 Holyrood manifesto they proposed halving pensioners' council tax.

Alex Salmond agreed that pensioners were probably the most important focus but suggested that the reduction should be by a fixed amount, so that higher band properties weren't being given a higher discount.

At the time, I thought that was a useful refinement of the Tories' idea, but now you're saying that a fixed £150 cut would be unfair. Can you reconcile the two?
6

Linda,

Edinburgh 12/09/2008 08:47:17
LIT is fair. £150 for all is not fair. Council Tax is not fair. Poll Tax was not fair.
7

AM2,

Scotland,UK 12/09/2008 09:02:15
#7 Linda

The 2006 Local Government Finance Review said:

“A local income tax might be less 'fair', its yield would be less predictable and it would place a major administrative burden on taxpayers, employers, local and central government ... Property taxes are better suited for use as a local tax than income tax.”

LIT is superficially attractive, as its 88% approval rating before last May's election made clear. I don't deny that. But when you dig into the detail it's actually less fair and moreover unworkable. As a result, public support has now almost halved, to 46%.
8

nabodican,

Rural Scotland 12/09/2008 09:06:44
Ability to pay has got nothing to do with with it , that is what we have the national income tax for.
Far better that those who use the services pay.
9

The Tin Man,

12/09/2008 09:49:41
#7 Linda

I take it you are in favour of abolishing different income-tax bands, and charging a flat-rate, regardless of income (as per your individual definition of 'fair').
10

Mr. Lachie Todd,

Edinburgh 12/09/2008 10:13:13
The Tory party is a bit late, considering it was responsible for introducing the Council Tax, and that is why we have arrived at the present position?

In it's headlong rush to impose the Community Charge(Poll Tax)on Scotland, one year earlier than England and Wales, it sealed its political fate!

On the eve of the introduction of the Community Charge in England and Wales, after massive anti-Poll Tax demonstrations and some of the worst riots ever seen in London, the Tories panicked and abolished the Poll Tax!

Afterwards, without proper consultation it introduced the Council Tax making sure that the banding was skewed in favour of its wealthy supporters.

Now the leader of the blue rinse Scots Tories has the brass neck to suggest a one-off cut in the Council Tax?
Has the leader of the Lost Tribe been paying attention at Holyrood debates?

Next year the Scots Council Tax will be frozen and it is the intention of the Scottish Government, if possible, to extend this Council Tax freeze for a further 2 years!

My advice to Council Tax payers: Remember the Poll Tax and beware Tories bearing gifts!
11

Calvinist,

12/09/2008 10:36:49
LINDA

LIT is a tax on work. Why should those of us who work subsidize those who do not, especially those who live of unearned income. If you call that fair, I call you deluded.
12

guenevere,

12/09/2008 12:27:02
Tories will not only win the next election,but will win with a majority of 174 seats,if they are offering you a council tax cut i'd take it,with that amount of majority they could easily change their minds!
13

Mr. Lachie Todd,

Edinburgh 12/09/2008 12:40:59
14# According to a poll on yesterdays Channel 4 News David Cameron's Tories will win a projected 150 seat landslide in England but NOT in Scotland or Wales.

The same poll found that support for the Scots and Welsh Tories was still in single percentage figures,
and more, or LESS, the same position as after the disasterous 1997 wipeouts in both countries! Fifty years ago, over half the MP's in Scotland and Wales were Tories but since then these numbers have plummeted!

In the past 11 years, only 3 Welsh Tory M.P.'s, and ONE Scots Tory MP, have been elected!


14

guenevere,

12/09/2008 13:35:01
15. With 50 million people in England,we don't need the help of the Scots or the Welsh,cameron will be the next PM of the UK.
15

Euan404,

Edinburgh 12/09/2008 14:14:23
It's not a one-off tax cut.

It's a permanent (assuming that the money the SNP says can be saved elsewhere, can be) reduction across the board of £150 on council tax bills.

This is of course a more significant discount to those living in smaller properties paying smaller bills.
16

guenevere,

12/09/2008 17:43:13
18. Where the hell are you,at present the tories would have a landslide victory,150 majority or more.

 

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