Salmond defies Westminster with local tax plan
Salmond goes ahead with scrapping of council tax in Scotland for 3p-in-the-poung local income tax
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:
Law expert warns MSPs of ‘poll tax’ scenario