Council tax should be scrapped in favour of raising income tax, says Alex Salmond’s former adviser.
Writing in Thursday’s Courier, Alex Bell says getting rid of the local tax and linking it directly to ability to pay would make the system fairer.
He argues the levy “gets up our noses for little return” and removing it would save on collection costs and help beat tax dodging.
Mr Bell, a Courier columnist, said the new Scottish Rate of Income Tax allows ministers to vary rates from April and suggested a levy of up to 5p to meet the £2 billion shortfall.
His income tax proposal is accompanied by a new land value tax, to replace non-domestic rates and the water charge.
Mr Bell was Mr Salmond’s head of policy and a key SNP figure in their sensational 2011 Holyrood victory.
The long-awaited reform of council tax will inevitably be a “fudge of the current system” and become an “ugly mess”, he says.
* Read his proposal in full in Thursday’s paper as part of The Courier’s three-part series on council tax.
EXCLUSIVE: Former Salmond adviser calls for council tax to be scrapped
