Time to end tax breaks and perks for royals
The Scottish Greens will end the King’s tax breaks and perks in Scotland as part of sweeping proposals to make the super-rich pay their fair share.
The billionaire monarch is currently exempt from paying a range of taxes including capital gains tax, inheritance tax and corporation tax. Most of these are reserved to the UK Government, however Land and Buildings Transaction tax is fully devolved to the Scottish Government.
Unlike regular home buyers, the King is allowed by law to purchase property in Scotland without paying a penny in Land and Buildings Transaction Tax. The Scottish Greens have committed to ending this tax break and making one of the country’s biggest landowners pay his fair share in future.
The total cost of the Monarchy to Scotland is around £35 million a year according to campaign group Republic.
Scottish Greens co-leader Ross Greer, said:
“With costs soaring and people being priced out of everyday essentials, it is ridiculous that so much public money is given to one super-rich and scandal-ridden family based on who their ancestors were.
“The King is one of the richest men in the world and one of the biggest landowners in Scotland. He doesn’t need even more perks, and he shouldn’t be given a free pass from paying taxes simply because of the wealthy family he was born into.
“We can’t have one rule for elites and another for the rest of us. Scotland should not be a nation where the powerful and privileged are exempt from contributing fairly.
“Even those who support having an unelected head of state would surely agree that the King can afford to pay towards our public services.
“The monarchy is an anti-democratic hangover from an earlier era, and one that the Scottish Greens would abolish in a heartbeat. Over the last few years the shocking scandals surrounding Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor in particular have underlined how poorly served we are by them.
“No family should be allowed to exempt itself from following the law, but in so many ways that's exactly what the Windsors do. It is long past time for the King to start paying his taxes.”
