Islington Residents back call for fairer tax (Islington Liberal Democrats)

Islington Liberal Democrats <Islington_ld@cix.co.uk>

Islington Residents back call for fairer tax

February 10, 2004 12:00 AM

Liberal Democrat plans to abolish the unfair Council Tax would find support from Islington residents, according to evidence presented to councillors this week. As part of Islington Council's budget consultation an independent company carried out research into residents' views on levels of council tax, how local services should be funded, and priorities for the area. The research has given the council lots of useful information and confirms that the council has broad support for its budget plans despite difficult decisions that have to be made. Bridget Fox, Liberal Democrat Parliamentary Spokesperson for Islington South and Finsbury, said: "When asked how local taxes should be calculated respondents said that basing how much they pay on the size of property is unfair and that council tax should be related to ability to pay. This is in line with the Liberal Democrat plan launched by Charles Kennedy this week. We would abolish council tax and replace it with a fairer local income tax. The demonstrations in Trafalgar Square at the weekend show that council tax is now becoming as unpopular as the Poll Tax." Introducing local income tax would mean tax cuts for millions of pensioners and ordinary families. Using official figures the Liberal Democrats have calculated that 70% of households would be better off or unaffected. "The poorest tenth of Britain's population pays four times more of their income in council tax than the richest tenth. A local income tax based on the ability to pay is much fairer than this," said Bridget Fox. Introducing local income tax would also save at least £300 million on bureaucracy as the complicated system of tax collection and council tax benefit could be abolished. Local income tax would be collected by the Inland Revenue as part of their existing role in tax collection. Islington Liberal Democrats are supporting Charles Kennedyís campaign to axe the council tax by collecting signatures on a nation-wide petition. Local residents can sign by visiting www.axethetax.org or looking out for leaflets from the Liberal Democrats backing the campaign. Facts: 1. The council's research was carried out by BMG Research, an independent market research company. The relevant section of the report reads: "In general respondents support the concept of differential rates of council tax, and feel that pensioners in particular should be supported. A number of reasons for this are given which include: the contributions the pensioners have made throughout their working lives, the fact they are on a fixed income and the range of services most of them access compared with others in the community. "However whilst agreeing in principle to differential rates for council tax respondents in all five groups feel that the ability to pay should also be taken into account. It is felt that a form of means testing should be introduced to identify those who can and those who cannot afford to pay. "In general respondents across all groups do not feel that basing the payment of council tax on the size of property is fair. They feel that the level of council tax should be related to ability to pay. The concept of local income tax could satisfy this principle in respondents' views." (Budget Consultation Focus Groups Summary of results, page 2.) 2. The research was discussed at Area Committee meetings on Tuesday 13 January and Monday 19 January (tonight). 3. Further information on the Liberal Democrat campaign to abolish the council tax can be obtained from www.axethetax.org. 4. Thousands of pensioners and other protestors demonstrated against council tax in London at the weekend.