Scottish election 2021: Scottish Greens unveil ‘millionaire’s tax’ plans

The Scottish Greens would introduce a “millionaires’ tax” that would see 10 per cent of the population pay a higher levy, the party revealed at the launch of its manifesto.

The party also said it would guarantee jobs in renewable and other sectors for tens of thousands of oil and gas workers as Scotland transitioned to green energy.

The Greens said they wanted to create a zero carbon society in unveiling “bold, transformational” proposals if the party was elected in May.

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The new tax would see most people pay less whilst the rich pay more, which the Greens said would raise hundreds of millions of pounds for public services across Scotland.

Scottish Green Party co-leaders Lorna Slater and Patrick Harvie on the campaign trail for the Green party at the National Piping Centre in Glasgow for the Scottish Parliamentary election.Scottish Green Party co-leaders Lorna Slater and Patrick Harvie on the campaign trail for the Green party at the National Piping Centre in Glasgow for the Scottish Parliamentary election.
Scottish Green Party co-leaders Lorna Slater and Patrick Harvie on the campaign trail for the Green party at the National Piping Centre in Glasgow for the Scottish Parliamentary election.

Council tax would also be scrapped while businesses which have profited from the pandemic would also be hit by a “windfall tax”.

Party co-convenor Patrick Harvie said he would “ideally” like the tax – which would be a tax on all wealth and assets above the £1 million threshold, including property, land, pensions, and other assets – to be implemented UK or Scotland-wide.

He said: “We're proposing a millionaires’ tax, a 1 per cent tax on all wealth and assets, above the million pound threshold. It's not a tax on aspiring to have wealth, it is a tax on having wealth.

"We have a society where a huge amount of the wealth that is generated by all of us collectively is hoarded by a tiny number of people and it's simply not a sustainable way for our economy to move forward.”

He added: “Even the International Monetary Fund (IMF), hardly the most radical socialists on the planet – if even the IMF are saying that wealth taxes have to be part of how governments around the world fund an investment-led recovery, I think it's going to be bizarre if the UK Government chooses to fall behind that growing global agenda.”

Mr Harvie said if the UK Government did not back the tax, his party would look to implement local wealth taxes.

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The party’s manifesto states: “The current, failed approach raises inadequate funds for vital public services and to invest in our future, while simultaneously allowing the rich to avoid taxation and take our wealth offshore.

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"The Scottish Greens believe in well-funded public services and are committed to a taxation system that raises revenue fairly and addresses the profound economic inequalities that scar our society.”

Under the Greens, air passenger duty would be replaced with a frequent flyer levy. Every passenger in Scotland would pay nothing for their first return flight in a 12-month period, with the levy incrementally rising for each additional flight after that.

Mr Harvie came under fire at Tuesday night’s STV leaders’ debate after admitting that by putting a stop to new exploration on the oil and gas sector, up to 100,000 people would be out of work in north-east Scotland.

However, he said on Wednesday there would be a guarantee on jobs for workers in the oil and gas sector which would see them retrained to work in renewable industries.

Co-convenor Lorna Slater said: “When it comes to the Climate Action Plan, you can't have your cake and eat it. And right now, it's only the Scottish Greens who acknowledge this, and have a plan to face fossil fuels out while facing green energy.”

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