WITH less than 100 days to go to the General Election, it is time for our political leaders to get honest about taxation.
There is no doubt that we are living beyond our means, that our national debt needs to be reduced or eliminated, but when someone earns more in one day than many can save in a lifetime, questions need to be asked about the level of taxation and who pays what.
There are those who believe that by raising the tax threshold, poor households will be the winners, since many will no longer pay taxes at all. Now, it doesn't take an economist to work out that a poor household might gain a meagre sum saved on a meagre sum earned but that the well-off will continue to reap the benefits of a regressive tax system which lets them off very lightly.
None of us likes to pay taxes but taxes are the price we pay for civilisation, for the social good, for stability. We should all, therefore, pay according to our means, by a progressive tax system, one that strikes at the heart of the avarice in our national economy. This is not only about recovery but about social justice, ensuring that speculators, tax-dodgers with clever accountants, those who choose bonuses as a lifestyle as well as those who choose benefits as a lifestyle, make a proper contribution to society.
But we are told that the only answer to our current economic woes is austerity and lower taxation. Lower taxes for whom, exactly? Lower taxes for the poor but higher for the rich? I hear no mention of higher taxes for those most able to pay.
I will not be voting for any party that does not advocate a truly progressive taxation system. I want to live in a country where everyone makes a contribution to society in proportion to their earnings, where greed and acquisitiveness are not allowed to flourish unchecked, in a country that has self-respect and respect for others.
Trevor Rigg,
15 Greenbank Gardens,
Edinburgh.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article