Lisa Strachan, Rutherglen Liberal Democrat candidate has welcomed the coalition government’s budget tax changes.

Changes to the personal tax allowance will see a rise of £630 to £8,015 in April 2012, a planned Air Passenger tax rise will be postponed and a tax avoidance clampdown will raise £1 billion this year. There are also welcome measures of relief for motorists with the scrapping of the fuel duty escalator and a cut of 1p in duty, bringing the fuel duty down 6p from the level planned by the last Labour Government.

Other tax raising measures will ensure that private jet users will pay tax on their flights for the first time and a tax rise on oil firms will be introduced.

Corporation tax will also be cut by an extra 1%, to encourage growth of the economy and a boost for jobs.

Lisa Strachan said:

"Liberal Democrats in the Government have insisted there should be fairness and help for the lowest paid people. Today’s announcement to add £630 to the personal allowance from next year will lift more people out of Income Tax payments altogether."

As a result of the increase to the Income Tax Personal Allowance, almost 100,000 people in Scotland now won’t pay tax at all, and 2.2 million low and middle income earners will have their tax bills cut.

"For 150,800 people, the amount of income tax they pay will be reduced to less than £200 a year.

"Already, as a result of Liberal Democrats being in the UK Government, 2,730 people in South Lanarkshire will be removed from paying Income Tax altogether this April.

"That helps people who need it most and it’s what the Liberal Democrats said we would do. Local people will also be helped by the cut in fuel duty and in Labour’s fuel duty escalator. This is real help at this very tough time for Scottish families and the Scottish economy.

"A crackdown on those who avoid tax is an important part of all of this – up to 10% of people are estimated to avoid tax, and this coupled with measures to introduce new taxes for the very well off, such as private jet users, means that fairness is at the heart of this budget.

"The budget does the right thing for Scotland in dealing with the tough financial times we have been left to deal with as a result of Labour’s legacy."

Rutherglen Liberal Democrat candidate Lisa Strachan has welcomed Liberal Democrat plans to exempt less well off pensioners from council tax.

Under the new plans, single pensioners whose income is less than £10,000 will pay no council tax. At least 20,000 single pensioners will benefit from this policy, and many pensioner couples will also qualify.

The proposals will mean a saving of up to £400 a year from a typical Band D bill, which compares to a saving of £22 under the SNP’s freeze, and a saving of £200 under plans put forward by the Conservatives. 

Recent figures from Age Scotland revealed that poverty particularly affects older people in Scotland, with 15% of pensioners living in income poverty and just under half – 49% - living in fuel poverty.

Lisa Strachan said:

“Too many poor pensioners often pay hundreds of pounds in council tax and now Liberal Democrats have a solution for these Scottish pensioners, whose income is just above the state pension.

“Our plans will lift 20,000 single pensioners who live on less than £10,000 a year out of paying council tax altogether, together with a number of couples.

“This is a major move that will help pensioners who live on a fixed income and have no choice but to struggle to pay their council tax bill.

“No other party will help these pensioners as much – for a typical Band D property, pensioners with incomes less than £10,000 a year could save as much as £400 under Liberal Democrat plans.

“These pensioners would only save £22 under the SNP freeze and about £200 under Conservative plans.

“It should be pointed out that very wealthy will not benefit from our policy but would still benefit by £200 under Conservative policy.

“This policy is simple and fair.

“Liberal Democrats have a substantial history of providing essential support for our pensioner community.

“We were the party who introduced free personal care for the elderly, and are also committed to tackling fuel poverty for this vulnerable group”

Rutherglen Liberal Democrat Scottish Parliament candidate Lisa Strachan has welcomed the launch of the Scottish Liberal Democrat manifesto, aimed at providing long term solutions for Scotland.

The manifesto will provide the way forward for young people, older people, first time house buyers and local businesses in Rutherglen, Cambuslang and Blantyre – focusing on employment, education and local services, with core plans to create 100,000 new jobs, and an initiative to encourage large companies to bring more of Scotland’s young people into work.

Scottish Water will be reformed, which will generate £1.5 billion to put to use on the job generation plans.

More money will be provided for colleges, and there are promises to cut paperwork for teachers, alongside red tape for businesses.

The poorest pensioners will be exempt from paying council tax, and £21 million will be allocated to first time buyers for use in shared equity schemes.

Lisa said:

“Our manifesto sets out long term solutions for Scotland, not short term populist fixes. I am confident it will be well received by local people in Rutherglen, Cambuslang and Blantyre.

“The Liberal Democrat programme is hugely practical and relevant to people’s current problems. It focuses on jobs, opportunities for young people, and keeping services local for local people.

“Our plans to reform Scottish Water will bring in £1.5 billion to the public purse, which can be used to generate 100,000 jobs.

“On top of that, we will encourage Scotland’s private sector to offer more jobs and work experience to unemployed young people.

“Small businesses will benefit from a cut in red tape, and head teachers will fill in less forms, and gain more discretion over how they run their schools.

“The longstanding Liberal Democrat commitment to fairness underpins plans to keep university free in Scotland, exempt the poorest pensioners from council tax, and help the younger generation climb onto what can seem like an inaccessible housing ladder.

“It’s a manifesto which looks to the future, whilst learning lessons from the country’s recent turbulent economic past.

“Only the Liberal Democrats are ambitious enough to help Scotland move up and move forward.”