ROSS Greer has said Scotland must pivot towards wealth taxation as he launched his bid to become co-leader of the Greens.
The West Scotland MSP launched his bid to head up the party in Glasgow on Thursday where he insisted it was time for Scotland to go beyond progressive income tax policies and go after the super-rich via different means.
He highlighted how, despite efforts put into progressive taxation in Scotland, some of the richest people in the country still do not pay much income tax because of how they arrange their finances.
Instead, he argued Scotland needs to look at abolishing the tax breaks from which some of the country’s biggest landowners benefit.
Greer also argued for the idea of an emissions tax on landowners who are polluting the atmosphere by not looking after their property.
Asked what taxing the super-rich looked like for him with the powers Scotland has, he told journalists: “One of the first examples is simply ending the tax breaks the super-rich already have under devolution.
“There are Tory MSPs in Parliament who are some of Scotland’s biggest landowners who get tax breaks for their shooting estates, tax breaks that are designed for small businesses.
“The government has a quarter of a billion pound business tax break scheme that their own review found no positive benefits from.
“Imagine if we had spent a quarter of a billion pounds on tackling child poverty or tackling the climate emergency instead? I can’t think of anyone in Scotland outside the Tory party who thinks some of their MSPs deserve tax breaks for their shooting estates.
“That’s money we could be investing in delivering the policies I’m advocating for like universal free bus travel.”
“Tax the rich” is a simplistic battle cry from the left, and while it’s a noble idea and certainly one I agree with, the devil is in the detail. It seems Greer isn’t just putting forward the simple arguments, but actually looking at it a little more in-depth.
I think we can see from the emerging wealth gap in Scotland, the UK and the rest of the world that we really do need to start ensuring that the wealthiest pay their way and stop sprofiting at the expense of everyone else.
I think it needs to done UK wide but I don’t think Starmer has the balls
Which country does Greer think handles tax correctly?
There are 200 odd systems and probably another 200 from the last century.
If he cannot point to any, and has to invent his own, it does not bode well.
The odds of Greer being an economic savant capable of discovering a new, superior, system on his own are tiny.
Whereas if he can just point to X country and say we should be more like them, then it would be much easier to see how the system should function.
His anti expert approach to rent controls makes me extremely wary of his economic theory.
That was another example of where there were no successful models to point to and just hypothetical scenarios which failed to materialise. Instead the failed models repeated.
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ROSS Greer has said Scotland must pivot towards wealth taxation as he launched his bid to become co-leader of the Greens.
The West Scotland MSP launched his bid to head up the party in Glasgow on Thursday where he insisted it was time for Scotland to go beyond progressive income tax policies and go after the super-rich via different means.
He highlighted how, despite efforts put into progressive taxation in Scotland, some of the richest people in the country still do not pay much income tax because of how they arrange their finances.
Instead, he argued Scotland needs to look at abolishing the tax breaks from which some of the country’s biggest landowners benefit.
Greer also argued for the idea of an emissions tax on landowners who are polluting the atmosphere by not looking after their property.
Asked what taxing the super-rich looked like for him with the powers Scotland has, he told journalists: “One of the first examples is simply ending the tax breaks the super-rich already have under devolution.
“There are Tory MSPs in Parliament who are some of Scotland’s biggest landowners who get tax breaks for their shooting estates, tax breaks that are designed for small businesses.
“The government has a quarter of a billion pound business tax break scheme that their own review found no positive benefits from.
“Imagine if we had spent a quarter of a billion pounds on tackling child poverty or tackling the climate emergency instead? I can’t think of anyone in Scotland outside the Tory party who thinks some of their MSPs deserve tax breaks for their shooting estates.
“That’s money we could be investing in delivering the policies I’m advocating for like universal free bus travel.”
“Tax the rich” is a simplistic battle cry from the left, and while it’s a noble idea and certainly one I agree with, the devil is in the detail. It seems Greer isn’t just putting forward the simple arguments, but actually looking at it a little more in-depth.
I think we can see from the emerging wealth gap in Scotland, the UK and the rest of the world that we really do need to start ensuring that the wealthiest pay their way and stop sprofiting at the expense of everyone else.
I think it needs to done UK wide but I don’t think Starmer has the balls
Which country does Greer think handles tax correctly?
There are 200 odd systems and probably another 200 from the last century.
If he cannot point to any, and has to invent his own, it does not bode well.
The odds of Greer being an economic savant capable of discovering a new, superior, system on his own are tiny.
Whereas if he can just point to X country and say we should be more like them, then it would be much easier to see how the system should function.
His anti expert approach to rent controls makes me extremely wary of his economic theory.
That was another example of where there were no successful models to point to and just hypothetical scenarios which failed to materialise. Instead the failed models repeated.
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