Families hit as tax bills rise by £500 a year
Struggling families ‘pay for SNP incompetence’
THE amount of tax paid by the average Scot soared by £486 last year, piling more pressure on squeezed family finances.
A tranche of 16 personal taxes cost Scots nearly £47.2billion – or £8,672 per head of population.
The amount raised by the taxes – including income tax, National Insurance, VAT, land and buildings transaction tax, council tax and duties on cars, fuel, tobacco and alcohol – soared by 5.9 per cent compared with the previous year.
Critics accused the SNP of ‘fleecing’ taxpayers, while business leaders urged ministers to avoid imposing more tax rises.
Revenue from income tax rocketed by more than 7 per cent after the SNP Government dramatically widened the tax gap between Scotland and the rest of the UK.
Scots were also hit in the pocket by an increase in the threshold for paying the lower rate of National Insurance.
Scottish Tory tax spokesman Bill Bowman said: ‘These figures expose how ordinary workers are footing the bill for the SNP’s high-tax incompetence.
‘Almost no one will have seen any improvement in their public services in that time, and certainly not to the tune of hundreds of pounds.
‘The SNP is fleecing Scottish taxpayers, yet because of its dire management of the Scottish economy, we have basically nothing to show for it.’
The Scottish Government has published a breakdown of all tax raised in Scotland, covering some revenue it receives and some that goes to the Treasury.
It shows 16 personal taxes brought in £47.16billion last year, compared to £44.52billion in 2017/18. By head of population, the tax take increased from £8,186 to £8,672.
The largest amount of revenue was raised from income tax, which is controlled by Holyrood. As a result of an SNP overhaul of the system in April 2018, taxpayers earning more than £27,000 pay more in Scotland than they would in England.
Revenue from income tax rose by 7.1 per cent following the changes, from £11.96billion in 2017/18 to £12.8billion last year.
All 32 local authorities increased council tax by 3 per cent in 2018/19, which contributed towards total income rising by 4.6 per cent to £2.36billion.
Many Scots were also hit by the UK Treasury’s decision to increase the rate at which National Insurance contributions fall from 12p to 2p in the pound. Last year, National Insurance raised in Scotland added £10.95billion to Government coffers – 4.7 per cent higher than the previous year.
In addition, VAT income soared by 7.2 per cent to £11.15billion, alcohol duties raised in Scotland were worth £1.18billion to the Treasury, up 5.1 per cent on the previous year, while tobacco duties rose by 5 per cent to £1.1billion and fuel duty increased by 1 per cent to £2.37billion. The Scottish Retail Consortium has written to Finance Secretary Derek Mackay urging him not to increase taxes on families in his next budget. In the submission, it said household finances ‘continue to be under strain’, adding: ‘The emphasis now should be on bolstering household disposable incomes and consumer confidence, including ruling out increases in income tax rates.’
A Scottish Government spokesman said: ‘Scotland has a strong and growing economy and this is reflected in the robust growth in tax revenues, which has seen Scotland’s notional deficit fall while public spending has increased.’
‘Dire management of the economy’