Under SNP Government Budget plans, Scotland's income tax rates have been frozen until 2026. The Finance Secretary, Shona Robison, announced that the basic and intermediate tax bands will increase by 3.5% in the next financial year, leading to more workers paying the lower 19% rate due to wage growth. However, business leaders warn that the tax divergence between Scotland and England could harm economic growth.
Shona Robison, the Finance Secretary, announced that there would be no change to the rates before the next Holyrood election in 18 months' time.
Workers in Scotland earning more than £29,000 per year already pay more income tax than those living elsewhere in the UK. "With fiscal headroom in famously short supply, this was always likely to be a Scottish Budget focused on shoring up the public sector and helping households most in need. Any small hope for an injection of capital to catalyse enterprise was dashed, even as firms battle a range of costly challenges.
Last year, Robison announced a hastily-arranged council tax freeze which angered local councils struggling under the weight of increased inflation. “It will take their total funding to over £15 billion, including £289 million to give real-terms protection to the general revenue grant.
SCOTLAND INCOME TAX FREEZE FINANCE SECRETARY ECONOMIC GROWTH
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