BBC News Online
Elderly groups from across Scotland have been putting more pressure on MSPs to reform or abolish council tax.
A petition demanding action was handed in to the Scottish Parliament on Thursday morning.
posted by Eddie Truman @ 9:08 am
BBC News Online
Calls for the abolition of the council tax have failed to win the backing of the Scottish Parliament.
Scottish Socialist Party leader Tommy Sheridan said MSPs should reflect public opinion as he led a debate on the issue at Holyrood on Thursday.
posted by Eddie Truman @ 7:13 pm
Edinburgh Evening News
A BID by the Scottish Socialist Party to win support for a call to dump the council tax has been heavily defeated in the Scottish Parliament.
Tommy Sheridan’s party had hoped for backing from other parties in its demand for the tax to be scrapped and replaced with an income-based alternative.
But MSPs last night voted by 88 votes to 33 for an Executive amendment which said an independent review of local government finance should be asked to examine different methods of local taxation, including local income tax.
The vote came after a fiery debate in which Labour MSP Christine May called the SSP leader "despicable", a remark she immediately withdrew at the prompting of the deputy presiding officer, Murray Tosh.
Mr Sheridan claimed MSPs opposed his party’s proposed "Scottish Service Tax" - an income-based replacement for the council tax - as they would pay an average of £3000 under his blueprint. He told Liberal Democrat deputy finance minister Tavish Scott: "You, minister, will pay significantly more because you can afford to pay more."
Council tax and its possible replacement also dominated First Minister’s Questions, where SNP leader John Swinney accused Jack McConnell of prejudicing the Executive’s promised independent review of local government finance by rubbishing the SNP’s own proposals for a local income tax.
posted by Eddie Truman @ 7:05 pm
BBC news Online
More pressure to axe council tax
MSPs have been urged to support calls for the abolition of the council tax.
Scottish Socialist Party MSPs, like the Scottish National Party and the Liberal Democrats, want the charge replaced with an income-based alternative.
SSP leader Tommy Sheridan claimed that the most recent opinion poll showed 77% of Scots were in favour of abolishing the charge.
Mr Sheridan led a debate on the tax at Holyrood on Thursday and said MSPs should reflect public opinion.
He urged all parties opposed to the charge to vote with the Socialists.
posted by Eddie Truman @ 2:44 pm
BBC News Online
Detailed plans for scrapping the council tax are to be published by the Scottish National Party.
The SNP wants to see a local income tax, which it claims would benefit pensioners and those on low incomes.
It will propose to charge taxpayers an average of 4.3 pence extra on income tax at the standard and upper rates.
Meanwhile, the Scottish Socialist Party is planning to give MSPs the chance to vote on whether the current system should be scrapped.
National convener Tommy Sheridan will lead the debate next Thursday.
He said the party would use its parliamentary time at Holyrood for a vote on whether or not the council tax should be replaced by an "income-based alternative".
The MSP said: "The form of alternative can be decided in debate later, the priority is to unite against the council tax.
"I appeal to the SNP and Liberal Democrats to put aside our major differences to ensure that on this issue Scotland's pensioner and low income households win."
posted by Eddie Truman @ 11:27 am
A collection of the latest news cuttings on the council tax
