PATRICK Harvie has branded the SNP's tax proposals "baffling" as he set out radical plans to tear up the current rulebook and force the wealthy to pay their "fair share".
Under the Scottish Green policy for the Holyrood elections, unveiled yesterday, earnings over £150,000 would be taxed at 60 per cent while the council tax would be abolished and replaced with a system that would see bills for those in the most expensive properties soar.
The party argued that that the "transformative" plan would address a situation that has seen the richest historically undertaxed and raise cash to protect public services. The Greens said tax bills for below average earners would fall and claimed its income tax policy would reduce inequality four times more than the SNP’s.
The Glasgow MSP set out a policy of splitting the current 20 per cent basic rate of income tax. Earnings above the £11,500 personal allowance and up to £19,000 would be taxed at 18 per cent and a rate of 22 per cent would be imposed on earnings between £19,000 and £43,000. The higher rate of 40 per cent, applying to earnings between £43,000 and £150,000, would rise to 43 per cent.
Mr Harvie attacked Nicola Sturgeon for fighting to win more powers for Holyrood but then choosing to do little with them once they arrived. The First Minister has pledged not to pass on George Osborne's tax cut to the better off, will freeze the basic rate of income tax throughout the next parliament and has argued hitting the richest harder would prove counter-productive.
He said: "Many people have been startled by the lack of ambition that seems to be coming from the SNP on this. Public services such as schools and social care and community facilities have been hit hard by cuts from the SNP government on top of eight years of a regressive council tax freeze. Despite arguing for control over income tax, the SNP have failed to seize the opportunity to create a more progressive system to tackle inequality. There is an urgent need and the Scottish Greens are responding to it.
"People on generous salaries, such as MSPs, deserve to pay a fairer share to protect and improve the public services we all rely on. Someone earning less than the average and struggling with the cost of living deserves to keep more of what they earn."
The party also attacked the SNP's plan for reform of the council tax. Ms Sturgeon has set out proposals to tweak the current system rather than deliver on a long standing promise to scrap it, saying those in homes in the top four bands should pay marginally more than they do currently.
Andy Wightman, a Green candidate in Lothian and the party's local government spokesman, said the SNP proposals would mean the country was left with a "very regressive" model.
He added: "The Scottish Green Party is proposing to abolish the council tax, once and for all. It's important to note that Band H properties for a quarter of a century have been undertaxed to the tune of 70 to 80 per cent, that's partly why we've seen such rampant house price inflation."
Under the party's plan for a residential property tax, which would be phased in over five years, bills would be calculated by taking a percentage of a home's value with owners, rather than tenants, liable after a £10,000 tax free housing allowance is taken into account.
Assuming a rate of one per cent, it would see someone in a home worth £795,000 pay £7,850 per year, almost three-and-a-half times their current bill. Revaluations would be carried out annually.
The Greens said their income tax policy would raise an extra £331m compared to the SNP plans, while the local taxation model would bring in an extra £490m for public services if a 1 per cent residential property tax was in place.
The First Minister, meanwhile, has launched a defence of her party's taxation plans, describing them as "progressive and fair" and denied that keeping the same tax rates as the rest of the UK amounted to an endorsement of the chancellor's policies.
She added: "George Osborne is going to change the threshold for the 40p rate that would deliver a significant tax cut to people in the higher rate band. I don't want to do that.
"George Osborne is also not ambitious enough in terms of the personal allowance to take people out of paying tax altogether... I want to see by the end of the next Scottish Parliament that reach £12,750."
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