Imagine if most people were paying the wrong rate of income tax.
And that the poorest people were the ones paying too much, whilst the richest paid much less than they should.
That would be bang out of order.
Well, that’s exactly what is happening right now with council tax.
The whole system is based on property valuations from 34 years ago.
Most people are now paying the wrong rate and it's generally those in the smallest and least expensive houses paying much more than they should, whilst the richest people in society in the biggest and most expensive houses get off with an absolute steal.
Last week, the Scottish Parliament passed the Housing Bill.
This bill, introduced by the Scottish Greens, will establish permanent rent controls, protect renters from unfair evictions and give them new rights, like the right to decorate or keep pets.
We brought this bill forward to fix a broken housing system where landlords have far too much power and renters far too little.
The council tax was one area I also tried to fix through the bill.
Sadly, the Scottish Government and other parties blocked those specific proposals.
That was strange, given that they all agree the system is broken and needs to be fixed.
The reason they were voting against is simple: the ‘losers’ of any work to make the system fairer would be the richest and most powerful people in Scotland.
Only the Scottish Greens and Lib Dems were brave enough to do that.
Another way in which the council tax system is horribly unfair is how debts are collected.
These arrears are chased for twenty years in Scotland compared to six in England, but in practice the clock never runs out because it resets every time someone in debt engages with their council.
People who have been unable to pay off their debts after five or six years of enforcement action being taken against them are almost certainly struggling and totally unable to pay.
Sending sheriff officers to their door over and over again isn’t helping anyone.
The council certainly isn’t getting its money back.
In fact, it’s probably pushing the family deeper into a crisis like homelessness that council services will then need to help them out of.
My proposed fix would have wiped out unpayable historic debts and helped thousands of really desperate families currently living in fear of every knock at the door.
Unfortunately, that specific proposal wasn't agreed, but the Government has committed to review the rules for council tax debt and agreed to the principle that they need to change.
So, progress made on affordable rents and more protections for tenants, but lots more to do on tax and debt.
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