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The Liberal Democrats will prioritise cutting income tax for those on low and middle incomes if they win power, says Vince Cable.
In a keynote address to the Liberal Democrat conference in Bournemouth, Cable, the party's Treasury spokesman and deputy leader, said he still backs a "small annual levy" on properties worth more than £1m.
"We have seen the super-rich pouring their money not into job creating businesses but into acquiring mansions," he said.
"And remember too that under our unfair council tax Messrs Mittal and Abramovich in their £30m palaces pay the same as a band H family home though their properties may be worth 40 or 50 times as much.
"That small levy alone would lift 300,000 low paid workers and pensioners out of tax."
Cable attacked the Conservative Party's "hysterical nonsense about the country being bankrupt".
"It isn't," he said.
"The public doesn't need George Osborne's imaginary secret documents or conspiracy theories to work out that the public finances are in a bad shape.
"No-one does political cynicism better than the Tories."
Cable claimed he has "exposed" the Conservatives as committed to a £53bn of extra spending.
"If we did that we would be accused of being fantasists or dishonest.
"But these people are so arrogant they think they can cruise into Downing St without anyone noticing."
Cable said "civil service bonuses and the culture of massively inflated salaries" must be tackled and there should be a freeze in the total pay bill rather than cuts in services.
"There is no need for the vast central government databases, like the ID card, the so called 'super database' and the NHS scheme," he said.
"Tax credits extend too far up the income scale.
"There are too many unaffordable defence commitments and procurement contracts including new Trident submarines.
"Civil service mandarins – and MPs – enjoy very generous subsidised public sector pensions which desperately need reform."
Cable said that it would be "dishonest and unbelievable" to claim that taxes overall should never rise.
"The Liberal Democrats' starting point is to aim for fairer not higher taxes," he told conference.
"I would do this by lifting tax thresholds, providing an incentive to work and to save."
He advocated lifting the income tax threshold to £10,000 to benefit four million low paid workers and pensioners.
There has been concern among Lib Dem activists that leader Nick Clegg's tough talk on cutting public spending could harm the party's image with potential supporters.
On the eve of conference Clegg said the party should admit their plans to abolish tuition fees "would cost billions of pounds every year" and will have to be reviewed.
On Sunday he clarified his position. "There is no question mark over the policy to scrap tuition fees," he said.
"There is no question mark over my personal commitment to it. The only question mark is about when we can afford to scrap tuition fees.
"People tell us that it would probably cost £12.5bn over a parliament to scrap tuition fees.
"I believe in the policy we want to deliver... but it's a policy that has significant financial implications.
"None of us know precisely yet what we can afford."
Clegg has warned of cuts "that are savage and bold".
"But we will make those cuts so that we can be equally fierce – equally savage – about protecting the services that matter most, just as we put the nation’s finances back in order," he told conference on Saturday.
Cable warned a fringe meeting at the Liberal Democrat conference on Sunday that the Conservatives could raise VAT to as much as 25 per cent if they formed the next government.
He said it was "alarming" that the Tories appeared to not want to tell the public what their plans for public spending were.
Dods Parliamentary Communications Ltd