Taxing anomalies

Your correspondent Clark Cross wrote (19 February) about an anomaly in the much heralded “historic” tax changes and yet there was also an anomaly in the tax bands the first time round which had to be redone.

Two errors in the relatively straightforward matter of income tax with plenty of time to prepare hardly engenders confidence in the prospect of the SNP managing the whole range of more complex taxes including corporation tax, capital gains, dividend/investment tax, tax evasion and so on, as they might have to do if they ever took on the full range of taxation responsibilities.

At least the current change was transparent and had some media coverage and much debate, unlike the four shockers of recent years introduced or managed by the SNP. A) Business rates transitional relief (some properties getting huge increases – had to be done again!). B) Stamp Duty (enough said! but can’t we just have a fair system and confidence in our own tax system rather than constantly trying to be slightly better than Westminster?). C) 200 hundred per cent council tax for certain categories of empty properties in some areas unfairly introduced in 2015 (power given to councils to do this by the SNP). D) Many low to middle income pensioners (for example) will have faced council tax increases of over 20 per cent in 201718, most of which was due to the SNP’S new multiplier effect rather than the councils’ increase of three per cent.

There has been very little debate recently or even at the time, and what happened to the review of why the voting buttons didn’t work that allowed D to go through?

The current ‘historic review’ should have included a criteria to “take account” of the existing tax system and recent changes, demonstrate awareness of Westminster changes, and indeed at least acknowledge that Scots do have to pay swingeing increases introduced by Osborne/hammond for modest investors.

I haven’t seen a single whinge anywhere from the so-called “better off” that the latest round of tax changes could be, depending on circumstances, the sixth increase in taxation in three-four years.

JONATHAN DAVIDSON Galashiels Road, Stow, Scottish

Borders Keith Howell (Letters, 22 February) complains about the “spin” being put on the recent changes to the Scottish tax system. To put the worst complexion (spin) on the changes, Mr Howell says that some taxpayers will pay an additional £1000 in tax. Of course, he fails to mention that you would need to be earning over £150,000 to have to pay that amount of additional tax.

GILL TURNER Derby Street, Edinburgh