First Minister John Swinney needs to “prove his mettle” on tax reforms if he is to make “meaningful progress” in tackling issues such as child poverty, campaigners insist.
Groups including Oxfam Scotland and the Scottish Women’s Budget Group, together with the Scottish Trades Union Congress (STUC), and the think tank IPPR Scotland, have appealed to Mr Swinney to continue planned tax reforms.
It comes after the latest Scottish budget made some changes to income tax north of the border – with a new 45p advanced rate introduced last month which will apply to those earning between £75,000 and £125,140.
But the groups believe those changes should be the start to more fundamental reforms to Scotland’s tax system, which they insist should involve the “outdated, unfair” council tax being scrapped.
The council tax freeze, a key part of the Scottish Government’s budget for 2024-25, does “little to help people on low incomes”, campaigners claim.
Meanwhile, the STUC said the “common sense, short-term changes” it wants to see to income and property taxes could raise as much as £1.1 billion a year more for the public purse in Scotland.
Jamie Livingstone, the head of Oxfam Scotland, urged Mr Swinney – who has already made eradicating child poverty a key goal for his Government – to consider the impact additional cash could have.
Mr Livingstone said: “The First Minister says he wants to eradicate child poverty, invest in schools and hospitals, and tackle the climate crisis – but to deliver meaningful progress, he must prove his mettle on fair tax reforms.
“The decision to delay the refresh of the Government’s tax strategy shouldn’t stop the First Minister from building upon positive changes to date by kick-starting common-sense, far-reaching tax reforms and from taking steps to build the cross-party support required to deliver them.”
STUC general secretary, Roz Foyer, said that public services were “on life support and desperately need new investment breathed into them”.
She stated: “STUC analysis has shown that common sense, short-term changes to income and property taxes could raise an additional £1.1 billion for Scotland’s public purse.
“The money is there, now the First Minister must show that the political will is, too, and prioritise investment in our public service and communities.”
Carmen Martinez, co-ordinator of the Scottish Women’s Budget Group, said: “The existing unequal taxation of income from wealth and income from work makes gender inequality worse and essentially represents a tax break for wealthy men.
“The First Minister must prioritise fair tax reforms to address this imbalance head-on and make sure our tax system and country works for everyone, not just the privileged, mostly male, few.”
And Dave Hawkey, senior research fellow at IPPR Scotland, said: “People across Scotland are willing to pay more into the collective pot if that money is wisely invested in the things that matter to us all.
“Fair tax reforms make both common and economic sense: we know that unequal societies are less prosperous societies and that poverty pulls both people and the economy down.
“The First Minister must use every lever at his disposal to build a Scotland where everyone can thrive and flourish.”
A Scottish Government spokesperson said: “Scotland has the most progressive income tax system in the UK, protecting those who earn less and asking those who earn more to contribute more. This in turn allows us to provide a more comprehensive set of services than in the rest of the UK.
“The upcoming draft tax strategy will be an opportunity to consider the role of the tax system, strengthen decision making and stimulate public discourse on the priorities for Scottish taxes over the medium term.
“Alongside this, the Joint Working Group on Council Tax Reform is exploring longer-term reform of council tax, including plans for public engagement on the nature of reform.
“The First Minister has been clear in pledging to eradicate child poverty in Scotland, and measures the Scottish Government has taken are already helping to keep an estimated 100,000 children out of poverty this year.”