SNP accused of ‘mismanaging’ public purse as tax revenue comes up short

SNP ministers faced criticism yesterday after it was revealed that less revenue than expected was raised from devolved taxes last year.

Finance Secretary Derek Mackay said £633million had been collected in 2016-17 – £38million less than had been estimated.

Mr Mackay insisted the figures were ‘not a precise exercise in terms of forecasts’.

Most of the cash came from the Land and Buildings Transactions Tax (LBTT) which replaced stamp duty north of the Border.

Experts have warned that LBTT has damaged the property market, especially at the higher end.

LBTT raised £484million, while the Scottish Landfill Tax brought in £149million.

Revealing the figures to MSPs, Mr Mackay also told them the Scottish Government would carry forward £191million from last year for spending in the 2017-18 budget.

This means 0.6 per cent of the budget was left unspent at the end of 2016-17, with Mr Mackay saying this was a smaller underspend than in England or Wales.

Scottish Tory finance spokesman Murdo Fraser said: ‘This is more evidence of an SNP Government misusing the powers it has and mismanaging Scotland’s economy as a result.

‘It was repeatedly warned that setting LBTT rates too high would have a detrimental impact on finances. Those warnings have been proved right and if the SNP doesn’t sort out devolved taxes, both the economy and the public purse will suffer.’

Mr Mackay said: ‘Under the UK’s fiscal rules, the Scottish Government cannot overspend – what we can do is carry forward a capped level of spending for use in a future year, where this is needed.

‘We have successfully raised 10 per cent more in devolved taxes to spend on critical public services.

‘Not a penny of the underspend is lost to Scotland as we will be carrying this forward into 2017-18. We will continue to maintain a firm grip on Scotland’s public finances against a backdrop of considerable economic turbulence and ongoing pressures on our finances.’