Our proposals would mean everyone earning less than the average wage would see their income tax reduce
The Scottish Green MSPs today (12 Oct) published a report showing how their policy of creating new rates and bands of income tax would make most Scots better off.
It comes after Scottish Ministers said they intend to bring forward a discussion paper on income tax ahead of the 2018-19 draft budget due in December.
Green MSPs gave their support for the 2017-18 budget after ministers agreed to cancel a proposed income tax cut for high earners and reverse proposed cuts of £160million to local council services.
The report published today shows:
* The current system of rates and bands is clearly unfair, as someone earning £11,501 and another person earning £43,000 are taxed at the same rate.
* The Green proposal to split the basic rate would mean everyone earning less than the average wage of £26,500 per year would see their income tax reduce.
* The Green proposal for rates and bands would raise at least an additional £331 million to invest in public services.
Patrick Harvie MSP, Finance spokesperson for the Scottish Greens, said:
"Public services are suffering and wages are stagnating, so we need to use our income tax powers to bring more money into the system while also helping people on low incomes keep more of what they earn. Green proposals would ensure that we get that extra revenue for services such as schools and social care, while we would also make most Scots better off.
"The Scottish Government has taken long enough to agree to a conversation about this, and it's vital we don't just tweak the system we've got but that we look at setting rates and bands that are more proportional to people's incomes. The Tories don't want Scotland to do anything different from Westminster, which means they want a tax cut for the wealthiest but nothing for lower earners, showing just how little they care about inequality.
"The Green priority is to invest in the future while making Scotland fairer. We already got the SNP to roll back on their tax cut for higher earners in the last budget. The forthcoming conversation about income tax is a chance to go much further."