Biggest piece of news to come out of the SNP Conference in Glasgow:
Changes to Scottish income tax bands considered
Relevant tid-bit:
Quote:
Instead, last year's budget saw ministers opt to make relatively minor changes by not raising the point at which people start to pay the 40p rate of income tax on their salaries, as happened elsewhere in the UK.
BBC Scotland's political editor, Brian Taylor, said he had been told that ministers were now looking seriously at changing the tax bands for the coming year.
He said: "That might involve lowering the income level at which you move into higher rates, but it could also mean entirely new bands in Scotland."
He said ministers were also examining the possibility of increasing taxes for the highest earners, but because Scotland has so few of those it is thought the move would bring in relatively little income.
And he said the new plans were likely to protect the lowest earners, but might mean those on middle incomes paying "a bit more".
What are the Scottish income tax rates and bands?
- Personal Allowance for those earning up to £11,500 - 0%
- Basic rate for those earning between £11,501 and £43,000 - 20%
- Higher rate for those earning between £43,001 and £150,000 - 40%
- Additional rate for those earning more than £150,000- 45%
|
In reality I think it's becoming obvious that in order to fund Scotland's public services, everyone needs to be prepared to pay more. I don't have the most recent figures, but I believe that roughly half of those who are currently employed in Scotland aren't earning enough to pay Income Tax under the current banding system. The only way around that is to not only change the bands for the middle income earners, but to lower the Personal Allowance level from £11,500 as well, possibly all the way down to £8-9K per annum being tax-free. As Brian Taylor writes, there aren't enough high earners for a SLab style "soak the rich scheme" to be viable, so they can't be milked. That means the lowest earners are going to have to start coughing up.
Whether the SNP have the balls to do that, I doubt.
Mike.:hmmm:
|