Yeah - I would allow local

Jock — Wed, 10 Oct 2007 12:44:28 +0000

Yeah - I would allow local authorities to chose what tax regime(s) they want - indeed that is likely to become, effectivey, party policy if Tim Leunig's Community Land Auctions gets through next time round - since he's effectively arguind that a local authority could choose to auction land instead of raising tax.

But I took it from Jenkins that his "TINA" moment was not that it would have to be Local Income Tax, but that the *only* way to get more control over spending is to localize more of it - however that is done - and I think he's right on that.

Jenkins <3 TINA

James Graham — Wed, 10 Oct 2007 10:14:27 +0000

While like you I am sanguine about having a Local Income Tax (LVT ought to be a national tax anyway, although I'd still allow local authorities the freedom to set their own precept if that's what they want), I am always suspicious when people assert There Is No Alternative. I thought this was the sort of mindset that Jenkins disliked so about Mrs T?

Devolution and Local Income Tax - Simon Jenkins in praise of Lib Dems

Jock — Wed, 10 Oct 2007 01:44:39 +0000

Today's Guardian carries a nice enough piece by Simon Jenkins in praise of devolution and localizing taxation, in particular through "ability to pay" local income tax. Clearly Daahling has yesterday set the scene for another big spat about Council Tax as it seems that the local government settlement is going to leave little option but for local authorities to raise the hated tax by more than they otherwise would.

Of course I think Jenkins, and the Lib Dems, are wrong on LIT - and are certainly wrong on removing all forms of property tax - but we in ALTER are prepared to accept LIT I think now on the proviso that we replace some other tax with a land tax at a national level (preferably a whopper like income tax for me!). Anyway - here's a taste of the Jenkins article (of course he's also wrong that it was a Tory script Daahling was cribbing from but don't let that get in the way of an otherwise good article!):

It was a Tory tax proposal that rewrote Darling's script:

The way forward can only be the European way, to devolve a major slice of spending on public services back to where it was before the mid-1980s, to local authorities. There it must be covered by some element of ability to pay - as bravely proposed by the Liberal Democrats. Darling cannot go on financing central programmes with above-inflation rises in a partly regressive property tax. There is no alternative, one day, to some form of local income tax. Council tax could be cut by a quarter with roughly one pence on income tax. Scotland is even now contemplating such a proposal. Yet ask Brown or Cameron for a view on such fiscal devolution, and they will look as if you wanted to murder their cat.

Giving taxpayers some scope to determine the level and quality of their public services is the only way to sustain future rises in public expenditure. That scope can come only through the local ballot, over health, police, education or whatever. Local income-related taxes exist in almost every country in Europe. They are intelligent taxation. Only in Britain do they scare party leaders witless.

Jock's Place - Devolution and Local Income Tax - Simon Jenkins in praise of Lib Dems - Comments

Yeah - I would allow local

Jenkins <3 TINA

Devolution and Local Income Tax - Simon Jenkins in praise of Lib Dems