How The Greens Would Use Tax For Fairness

"Fairer taxation is a cornerstone priority for the Green Party. We back measures that will lead to a fairer society and should I be elected will campaign in Parliament to changes to our system of taxation that goes in the directions you are campaigning toward." says Tony Juniper, Cambridge Green Party PPC.

We agree with a special tax on bankers’ bonuses. And our changes to the pension system will radically reduce the huge advantages the present pension system gives to the most wealthy and take all pensioners out of poverty. But this is only a beginning. We would also:

· introduce the new higher rate of income tax at 50% for incomes above £100,000, raising £2.3bn pa
· abolish the upper limit for National Insurance contributions raising £9.1bn
· help lower earners by raising the lower National Insurance limit to the personal allowance rate, that is £6475 or £124.52 a week, costing £3.9bn
· help lower earners by re-introducing the 10% tax band and the 22p basic rate, costing £14.9bn
· increase the main rate of Corporation Tax from 28% back to 30% - and reduce the small firms rate to 20%, altogether raising £1.4bn
· raise the Capital Gains Tax rate from 18 to 22% to the recipient’s highest income tax rate, raising £1bn
· reform inheritance tax, so that the level of taxation depends on the wealth of the recipient rather than that of the deceased, raising £3bn by 2013. This will encourage people to distribute their property widely.
· crack down on tax havens and other methods of tax evasion and avoidance raising £10bn in 2010 rising to £13bn by 2013. In particular press for a transparent international accounting standard that requires companies to report on a country by country basis so that therir profits can be located and taxed.
· reform Council Tax by making people in more expensive houses pay more and those in smaller ones less, adding an additional band at the top for the biggest houses, raising £1.7bn. In the long run we favour moving to a system of Land Value Tax, where the level of taxation depends on the rental value of the land concerned.