Salmond defies Westminster with local tax plan

Alex Salmond yesterday defied Westminster with plans to replace the council tax in Scotland within three years with a 3p-in-the-pound local income tax, hailing it as ‘the biggest tax cut in Scottish history’.

Last night ministers in London vowed to axe the £400m in council tax benefits currently paid to Scottish taxpayers if the changes go ahead, The Independent reports.

Salmond wants the money paid to the Scottish government, but Westminster is against subsidising a system it says is different from the council tax regime in the rest of Britain. ‘They should not assume they can have their cake and eat it,’ one Whitehall source said.

It is expected to take months of squabbling to push the plan through the Scottish Parliament as the minority SNP administration needs support from the Liberal Democrats and Greens.

Further reading:

Scotland’s council tax doomed

Law expert warns MSPs of ‘poll tax’ scenario

Read The Independent story