Scotland's former finance minister has called for a 25% cut in council tax bills for all properties valued at less than £400,000. Tom McCabe said the move would be the first step towards the abolition of the council tax.

THE Scottish Parliament has control over local council tax and non-domestic rates, accounting for around £3.7 billion of the total Scottish tax take. The majority of its fu

If Scotland abolishes Council Tax, it should receive the £400m - or a comparable sum - of Council Tax Benefit. That is not - thanks to the bizarre constitutional setup we have - to say that it will. Council Tax Benefit is a UK-wide scheme, because Council Tax is a UK-wide tax. There is no simpler argument than to say that if Scotland no longer "needs" Council Tax benefit, it should no longer...

Scottish First Minister, Alex Salmond, has unveiled plans to abolish council tax next year and replace it with a 3p local income tax. The council tax is one of the most unfair and unpopular taxes in history.  The arbitrary method of calculating how much someone is required to pay is matched only by the window tax

The Guardian publishes today what appears to be a well-briefed article suggesting the Lib Dems are thinking of deferring plans to scrap Council Tax in favour of a local income tax: Liberal Democrats are planning to soften their support for a local income tax to replace the council tax, a key policy for at least three

However, there is nothing so bad that you can't make it worse. The post-modern tax/subsidy system that has now been introduced looks superficially like the picture in Part 4, but some of the arrows have flipped round. 1. Instead of homeowners, wearing their homeowner hats, being net payers of even a little bit of property tax (i.e. Council Tax, average bill £1,000 or so), the government...

English district councils spend £1 in every £3 of council tax revenue on gathering and disposing of household rubbish, figures obtained by the Guardian show. So, first be deliberately obtuse about the money. Council tax revenue is about 25% of total council revenue. So we’re really saying that about 8% of council revenue is spent on

During Plaid Cymru’s first spell as the controlling party in Caerphilly council, they put a side a large sum of money (emergency funds with a future aim to keep council tax at low levels), despite keeping council tax at an all time low. What did the new Labour councillors do when they re-took control they blew it all on posh imported Italian furniture with the cost of nearly £30,000 to...

Times are tough economically. Local residents are feeling the pinch of the recession and unemployment has risen sharply, yet we still have one of the highest council tax levels in London. Since council tax was introduced, the Liberal Democrat-run administration has increased council tax by over 205%; four times the rate of inflation. Quality services and real value for money can, and should, go ha...

TPA campaigner Mike Hobson deserves a big pat on the back for rallying against the ‘bedroom tax’ imposed by Purbeck Council on property extensions. The tax is a £1,000 council levy on any property extension within the borough, naturally hitting...