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Tax experts clash in Scotland |
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PROPERTY TAX experts have clashed in their advice to the Scottish Parliament.
The parliament's local government committee is carrying out an enquiry following the Scottish Executive's decision not to overhaul the Council Tax and Business Rate.
At the enquiry in December last year three directors from pressure group Land Reform Scotland criticised the Council Tax and Business Rate as damaging to communities and enterprises.
Convenor Peter Gibb produced evidence that a land-only based tax or “user fee fosters renewal in cities damaged by land speculation. Backing this radical reform was Fife farmer Dr Duncan Pickard, who argued that farmers would gain from this one reform.
But Professor Peter K Brown, of Liverpool's John Moores University, claimed the two British property taxes were “robust, based on his research funded by the American Lincoln Institute of Land Policy.
Brown also told the committee it ought to be very certain there was something better before getting rid of the property taxes that worked “reasonably well. Should the enquiry find that land tax reform offers a better source of local government funding the Scottish Parliament has the power to propose legislation.
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