If we tried to figure out how much tax we pay in our lives it would be astounding.
Income tax, national
insurance, stamp duty, capital gains tax, fuel tax, VAT, road tax,
insurance tax, it just goes on and on and on. The way I see this is all of this money goes to our politicians who then decide how it should be spent. Now as we contribute over £9billion a year you would think that some of this vast amount would be put back into projects that would facilitate what we all love to do.
But from what I see unlike many other pastimes who benefit from this government expenditure, we seem to have more money spent to prevent us from enjoying what we do than what little is spent to help us enjoy what we do. And more than anything it’s this lack of investment that has created many of the issues that we and locals are having to endure.
If what is going on right now continues then we may reach a point when sales of motorhomes slump and this would lead to a loss of revenue for the government, businesses failing, and some of the 126,000 employed may lose their jobs.
So for me any form of tourist tax is a slippery slope. Yes it may only be 1-2% to start with but you can bet your bottom dollar it will become a cash cow. look at car parking charges. In Glasgow charges were introduced in the 60s. Initially the charges only covered the cost of the meters, and the cost of paying the wardens. Also then only the city centre was covered. Now Glasgow needs the exorbitant charges to survive, and parking charges now cover most of the city.
But to consider taxing one group solely, a group of people who have been already taxed to the hilt is both discriminatory and morally bankrupt. I am willing to pay directly for facilities I use, but that should be voluntary, and I only do this because I know these councils are not funded to cover these costs. On Arran it’s the locals that run the toilets, not Arran Council.