The Church of Scotland has backed the Tax Justice Scotland campaign, which is making the case that Scotland has the power to create a system that makes sure wealth is shared, strengthens public services and invests in a cleaner, greener future.

Ahead of debates around the Scottish budget in early December, the Church called for a national conversation about tax transformation in Scotland, and defended the role of faith groups within that conversation.

Emma Jackson, leader of the Church’s Public Life and Social Justice Programme Group, said on the Church website: “The Church of Scotland firmly believes that faith communities have a vital role to play in an ongoing public conversation about the relationship between ethics and economic policy to make sure that everyone can live decent and dignified lives.”

The Tax Justice Scotland campaign calls for: the better off to pay more tax, protecting low-income households and reducing inequality; an ambitious plan to tax wealth, including the eventual scrapping of Council Tax and introduction of fairer alternatives; a tax on pollution; tax policy to advance gender equality; and a tax system that encourages businesses to act positively for people and planet.

Ms Jackson said: “There is a clear and present theme that runs throughout the Bible – that everyone should have enough. Tax systems are a way for us to achieve this… Evidence is mounting that the current UK taxation system is not fit for purpose and many people are not paying taxes in proportion to their wealth and income.”

During the budget debates the Church also joined with the Scottish Catholic Church to urge MSPs to resist pitting vulnerable groups in society against one another, and to recommit to providing free bus travel for asylum seekers.

The 2015 General Assembly of the Church of Scotland instructed the then Church and Society Council to promote a national debate about tax, giving and wealth sharing in the context of economic and social inequalities, and called upon Scottish and UK Governments ‘to reform the tax system in order to promote the reduction of wealth and income inequality’.