The Herald: Public service workers ‘better-off’ under SSP tax scheme

PUBLIC service workers would be hundreds of pounds a year better-off under a Scottish Socialist party alternative to council tax, according to official research.
The SSP said yesterday its income-based Scottish service tax would benefit nurses, police officers, firefighters, social workers and teachers living in Band D homes by between £332 and £567, while nursery nurses would pay £1053 less per year under the scheme.
Pensioners on low incomes would pay nothing at all.
The party cited a paper by the Scottish Parliament Information Centre on the tax's impact on a range of different occupations.
It showed most low-income households would pay less under a service tax, but the well-off would pay much more than at present.
It claimed that a GP earning £56,000 a year would pay an extra £3200, while a council chief executive with an annual salary of £110,000 would pay £15,000 more each year.
The study also showed most low-income households would pay less under a service tax than with the SNP's local income tax plan.
However, the report did not look at how the new tax would affect state benefits, the cost of collecting it, or its impact on a large swathe of middle-income homes – a gap which will be seized upon by opposition parties.
Tommy Sheridan, SSP leader, said: "The well-paid and wealthy will undoubtedly pay more towards local services under the Scottish service tax, but 77% of Scots will be better off.
"Scotland's public services desperately need substantial resources and it is time the rich and better-off paid their share," he said.
The figures were released on the eve of the SSP's "axe the tax" rally against council tax in Glasgow tomorrow.

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