Commission calls to end council tax
A commission set up to look at the future of council tax has called for an end to the current system
A commission set up to look at alternatives to the council tax says the opportunity for reform “must not be missed”.
The Commission on Local Tax Reform has called for an end to the current system and put forward three possible alternatives based on property, land and income.
The cross party group believes any new system should be one for “general tax” and not a “system of charges for specific services”.
However, the report did not come out in favour of any one option, instead urging political parties to put forward their proposals ahead of next year's Holyrood election.
Commission co-chair and COSLA president David O’Neil:
The call for change is based on making the system fairer and on the ability to pay.
Minister for Local Government Marco Biagi says any change would benefit those on middle incomes:
Political parties – who’ll be tasked with choosing their alternative in the run up to the 2016 Holyrood election – have also been having their say.
Scottish Conservative leader Ruth Davidson said:
“The Scottish Conservatives decided to set up an independent Commission into Fair and Competitive taxation last year, headed by Sir Iain McMillan, to study these issues.
“Once that has reported, we will set out our own plans on local taxation.
“There is a need in Scotland for a clear, principled alternative to the Labour-SNP consensus and we intend to provide it.”
Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Willie Rennie said the report was a missed opportunity:
“The SNP have been in power for eight years on a promise to reform council tax. They did hee-haw for seven years. Then they gave this cross-party group just a few months to solve the problem.
“This report sets out plenty of alternatives for the reform of local government finance but after eight years, people might have expected more from a government that said it was committed to reforming the council tax system.”
Local government spokesperson for the Scottish Greens Andy Wightman said:
“For too long, local government has been neglected and marginalised in debate about the democratic future of Scotland.
“The council tax freeze has cost over £2.5bn that could, instead, have been invested in public services.”