Scottish Labour has warned ministers not to hike council taxes on the highest bands, as doing so could impact on the poorest in the country.
A consultation document published last month suggested the Scottish Government and local authority body Cosla were preparing to increase council tax on properties in band E or higher on a sliding scale rising from 7.5% to 22.5%.
The move would mirror a similar initiative in 2017.
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But Scottish Labour local government spokesman Mark Griffin claimed the shift could hit some of the poorest in the country in properties already in the highest bands.
The party said 108,200 households in the poorest 30% of Scotland live in band E or above properties, while just 23,060 of these households received a council tax reduction, leaving between 80,000 and 85,000 vulnerable to the increase.
Mr Griffin said: “The SNP’s council tax bombshell is a tax rise on 80,000 of the poorest households during a cost-of-living crisis – it is an attack on working people that would make Rishi Sunak proud.
“Years of brutal cuts by the SNP have left local councils at breaking point, and now the government wants to plug the gaps with eye-watering council tax hikes on some of the poorest Scots while many wealthy families would pay nothing."
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“It is a scandal that the Scots earning the least are once again being asked to pay more while getting less in return.
“Families struggling with rising housing costs should be getting support from their government – but instead they are being asked to foot the bill for the SNP’s failure.
“Labour will stand up for people struggling with soaring living costs and fight for a fair deal for working people.”
The consultation is due to close on September 20.
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