Scotland must reform 'broken' council tax system, says leading charity
The Joseph Rowntree Foundation called for major changes
Scotland must reform its “broken” council tax system, a leading charity has said.
The Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF) warned the current system is “outdated, regressive and desperately needs reform”.
It called on all political parties to commit to major legislative change ahead of the Holyrood election in May.
JRF analysts said the existing system is “unfair by design” and disproportionately hits the poorest people in Scotland.
More than one in ten households on the lowest incomes are behind on their council tax bills, the charity said.
The current system was introduced in 1993, with payment rates based on valuations from 1991.
Financial pressure on council budgets means a tipping point has been now reached, the JRF said.
It described reforming council tax as a “key intervention to reduce poverty and hardship, and improve the fairness of our tax system”.
It added: “Bold action is needed urgently to break a 30-year cycle of hoping a problem will just go away, which has sustained a deeply unpopular tax system, protected the interests of the wealthiest in society, and perpetuated poverty and inequality in Scotland.”
The charity welcomed proposals in the recent Scottish budget to revalue properties worth more than £1 million and create two new high value property bands from 2028.
However, it said larger scale action is urgently needed.
Following the Scottish Government’s recent consultation on the future of council tax, it called for a cross-party commitment to turn the proposals into action.
The JRF wants politicians to implement a “genuinely proportionate property tax”, but warned that a lack of “perfect consensus” among the parties should not be used as an “excuse for inaction”.
The charity is also calling for an expansion of the council tax reduction scheme.
Chris Birt, associate director for Scotland of the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, said: “For more than three decades, Scotland has been saddled with a council tax system which is deeply unfair, as well as unpopular.
“It means that some people on low incomes are having to choose between heating, eating, or paying their council tax bill, at the same time as subsidising the wealthiest in society.
“We know that for the next Scottish Government, meeting the nation’s legally-binding, cross-party child poverty targets by 2030/31 will require bold action at scale.
“A fair tax on housing wealth is part of what is needed, by cutting through the budget constraints that have limited investment in radical solutions to poverty.
“That is why the next Scottish Government must prioritise council tax reform to create the fiscal foundations for a fairer Scotland, and why all parties standing in this year’s election must bring forward proposals for major legislative change on council tax.
“We need to break a 30-year cycle of hoping a problem will just go away.”
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