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If the Scottish government proposed to increase tax by 1% and make trains free would you be in favour? (discuss.tchncs.de)

submitted 3 weeks ago by PonderingPotato@discuss.tchncs.de to c/scotland@feddit.uk

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cross-posted from: https://discuss.tchncs.de/post/44818223

Assume every tax rate except for the "personal allowance" was increased by 1% to fund free train travel. That would mean someone at the median annual income of £38k would pay about £254 extra tax per year ((38000 - 12570) * 0.01)

Would you be in favour of this?

Some numbers for context:

The government raised £17.1 billion in 2024.

The ScotRail revenue for 2024 was £351m (page 17).

So to offset the cost of tickets, the government would have to raise £351m which divided by the 2.46 million people in work would be an average cost of £140 extra per person collected per year, so I believe 1% may be able to pay for it comfortably, and even improve the service, to compensate for the extra demand on free travel.

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[–] abbiistabbii@lemmy.blahaj.zone 1 points 1 week ago

That sounds like a Great idea, and I'm gonna be frank with you, the people going long distances on free trains alone will likely pay for itself in tax as businesses will be making more.