Power to set tax rates could help Wales tackle cost of living crisis says Plaid
Plaid Cymru has claimed that if Wales were able to set its own tax rates and bands, it could help tackle the cost-of-living-crisis.
Plaid Cymru will call on the Welsh Government today to support the devolution of setting all rates and bands for Welsh Income Tax to the Senedd.
Leader of Plaid Cymru, Adam Price argued that the resent limitations of the Welsh Government’s tax-varying powers were an impediment to effective policy-making in Wales, particularly the ability to respond to the current cost-of-living crisis and the crises facing public services.
He said the Senedd should possess the devolved competence to set its own income tax bands which would create a “fairer taxation system” in line with the powers already devolved to the Scottish Parliament under the Scotland Act 2012.
Earlier this week, Plaid urged the Welsh Government to back its plans to raise £317m to give both health and care workers a fairer pay offer as part of a longer-term investment in the NHS.
Plaid Cymru Leader Adam Price said: “Workers are overworked and underpaid. Public services have been cut to the bone. People are struggling to make ends meet. Westminster’s cost-of-living crisis has hit Wales – hard.
“If Wales had the ability to set its own tax bands and rates, we could better tackle the crisis in pay and morale in our public services and tailor solutions to the challenges currently facing our communities.
“If Labour are truly the party of the workers, as they claim to be, they’ll back our calls for a fairer Welsh taxation system and demand the powers to set our own tax bands and rates – just like Scotland, rather than allow us to be dictated by Westminster, again.”
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Committing a nation with a major “low income/high poverty” profile to a bigger tax burden on its basic rate payers sounds like yet another step away from political reality. Hard core middle class voters in the S.E might, just might, buy into it as a short term measure but this is the kind of stuff that could bring out a hostile block of votes from a hitherto docile indifferent electorate. Try it and see what happens.
It’s also a ‘political reality’ h that if we want decent public services we have to be willing to pay for them. Is no accident that the scandanavian countries have excellent public services – but they also pay much more in tax than we do! If the argument is put – as plaid are now doing – we might well find people in Wales (yes even people on modest incomes) would be willing to pay a little bit more in tax if it meant things like paying teachers in Wales a living wage and not spending years on nhs waiting… Read more »
The WM Tories would probably reduce the amount of their grant by the same amount.
Price is a clown….he’s nearly as bad as RT Davies as sniping from the sidelines, without any idea or plan of how to implement policies. Just throws out a few soundbites!
It seems his time is coming to a miserable end!!
Lol….under one of your other fake profiles on this story you added ‘total’ to ‘clown’. If you actually bother to read what he proposed you’d see he spelled out his ‘plan’…..but then youre too busy fabricating online profiles to actually read what someone has put forward.
Fact is if we want decent public services we have to be willing to pay for them (it’s no coincidence that the scandanavian countries have the best publc services but also pay more in tax than we do here). And i think people in Wales – yes even those on modest incomes- would be willing to pay a little bit more in tax if it meant paying teachers a living wage and not spending years on nhs waiting lists.
PRICE is a total clown, I quote- “Workers are overworked and underpaid. Public services have been cut to the bone. People are struggling to make ends meet. Westminster’s cost-of-living crisis has hit Wales – hard.”
So who exactly will pay these extra taxes- the overworked and underpaid because you can bet your bottom dollar the rich will not pay more. It amazes me how stupid politicians are.
If you bothered to read what was being proposed you’d see ‘the rich’ would pay it…..still trolling around this site under a made up identity i see…. yawn…..have you ever thought of getting a life?
Bring back the real Grayham Jones asp