Isn't it time to scrap the Council tax in favour of a local income tax?

Question

Isn't it time to scrap the Council tax in favour of a local income tax?

Answer 1

Yes- won't happen though

Answer 2

yes . get back to the ratable value of your property like it used to be . council tax is still the poll tax -a stealth tax ,and if anyone recalls when it was introduced the rich paid less and the poor paid more.

Answer 3

The Lib Dems have been arguing that for 25 years.  The problem with progressive taxes is that the people best able to pay are the ones least likely to do so.  Just look at all the whingers on this site.

Answer 4

i agree. at the moment local councils can pass the buck when they s***w up, and so they use that as a fail safe when forcing ridiculous unworkable laws and ideas on to the public. i think if the tax was localised it would put the power back into the hands of the people. IE: if the people didn't like some thing that the council were trying to push on to them, the localised nature of the taxation format would give them leverage in effect that they could organise and with hold it from terrible councils. they would also have more control over where the money is spent......makes good sense to me..... (i doubt it would to the crooks that run local councils).

Answer 5

Yes, if it will adress the issue of nailing the low paid and favouring the rich.

I'm sick and tired of struggling to make ends meet, and having to pay one eighth (12.5%) of my income on Council Tax alone.  Whilst only 400 metres away I have neighbours who's council tax bill is a little more in terms of cash price, but only represents about 2% to 3% of their income!

How can low paid people be expected to pay the "lion's share", whilst the wealthy get away with paying peanuts?

Answer 6

NO !

Scrap Council tax and that's it !

Answer 7

and the difference would be? that is comes streight off your wages so the people who do not work do not have to pay?

Answer 8

They will do both. Tax, Tax, Tax tax tax tax... that's the only thoughts on a politicians mind.

Answer 9

I will vote for that!

Answer 10

Wouldn't bother me a bit, since I paid huge amounts into a system that has denied me even access to ability of use in a time of need , like disability from heart issues.

Everything else I use is funded on a state level. get the government out of our wallets!

Answer 11

Council Tax is fundamentally wrong for a number of reasons we are all familiar with.

First it is arbitrary and still based on the notional value of the house you live in.This of course bears no relation to the amount of local "services" you consume nor the value you receive in return for the tax.The valuation itself is arbitrary.

Next, liability is not linked to people's ability to pay.Housing Benefit is not the answer to that.Over and above that local government have a voracious appetite for our money and can always find "reasons" for the year on year increases in their spending.Has your local council really been 5% better in every single year since 1997 ?  

On balance I would prefer a local income tax but only if it were made progressive (linked to ability to pay) raised as part of national income tax but definitely not raised or administered by local government.

The other thing you would have to do is subject Council budgets to more intense public scrutiny before and not after they spend our money. At a general election we at least get some hint in advance of a potential governments spending plans.

We don't get an individual vote on annual  national budgets thereafter but at least when the Chancellor spends public money its already in the pot. Local government simply add up what their activites are going to cost this year and present us with the bill.