The Scottish Socialist Party wants to get rid of the council tax and have done some calculations on the back of an envelope in order to redistribute the burden of local taxation.
While I’m in favour of graduated taxation in principle, I’m not sure the SSP’s plans for a “service” tax represent great value for people like the hypothetical Frederick who the SSP have chosen as one of the examples in the proposed new tax regime
Frederick is one of Scotland highest paid chief executives, earning £1,200,000 last year. He lives in a Band H property in Edinburgh with his partner and their children. Their current Council Tax bill is £2,002. Under the Scottish Service Tax they would pay £233,100 a year. Loss: £19,258 a month
£20,000 to have his bin emptied every four weeks does seems a tad excessive.