Scotland’s winners and losers from spaceports to holiday lets
Jeremy Hunt’s Spring Budget included £300 million in Barnett consequentials for the Scottish Government with the major headline a 2p cut to National Insurance.
The UK government is certainly pleased – they say the Office for Budget Responsibility is now forecasting debt to fall to 94.3 per cent of GDP by 2028/29 and is forecasting the UK economy will grow by 1.9 per cent next year.
But what else was included? We take a look at who the winners and losers in Scotland are.
THEWINNERS
The worker national Insurance will be reduced by 2p from April 6, which is expected to save the average employee £450.
Similarly, National Insurance for those who are selfemployed will be reduced from eight per cent to six per cent, saving these individuals an average of £350 a year. The distiller The freeze in alcohol duty, which was due to end in August, is being extended to February 2025.
In making this announcement, the Chancellor name-checked Scottish Conservative leader and Moray MP Douglas Ross for championing the Scottish whisky industry.
Mark Kent, chief executive of the Scottish Whisky Association, said: “That decision supports the Scotch whisky industry, will incentivise investment and, as with previous cuts and freezes, boost Treasury revenue.” The high-earning parent Currently if one parent earns more than £50,000, they are subject to charges on child benefits.
This high salary threshold is to be increased to £60,000 from this April. Mr Hunt says the government will also consult on a new household based system to end the unfairness of the high salary threshold on child benefit by April 2026. The small business owner The VAT registration threshold will be increased from £85,000 to £90,000 to help reduce the administrative and financial impact on small and medium-sized businesses. Mr Hunt says this will mean tens of thousands of businesses will come out of paying VAT. Museum and gallery owners Orchestras, museums and galleries are to get £1 billion worth of additional tax reliefs over the next five years. This includes 45 per cent tax relief rates for touring productions, and 40 per cent for non-touring shows.
Independent films with a budget of up to £15m will also receive a 40 per cent tax relief. The motorist The 5p a litre fuel duty cut, introduced in March 2022, will be maintained for another 12 months, saving the average motorist £50 next year. The government will also keep the duty freeze, which is now in its 14th year.
The property mogul The higher rate of property capital gains tax for residential properties will be reduced from 28 per cent to 24 per cent.
Mr Hunt says this move will increase revenue as it will encourage more property transactions. However, as stamp duty does not apply to Scotland, those buying more than one property at a time won’t benefit. The family in debt loan repayment periods will be extended from 12 months to 24 months. It is expected this will help low-income families who are on Universal Credit and are being forced to take out loans to make ends meet. The island astronauts probably the furthest north the government’s money will go in this Budget – there will be extra funding for the Saxavord spaceport on Unst in Shetland. The east coast town It is good news for a handful of towns on the East Coast. Dundee is to get a share of £100m of levelling up funding, and Peterhead and Arbroath are to each get £20m to invest in long-term expansion.
Decision supports the Scotch whisky industry, will incentivise investment and, as with previous cuts and freezes, boost Treasury revenue Mark Kent
THE LOSERS The oil and gas giant–and by extension, the scottish Conservative leader Windfall tax
on record profits in the North Sea oil and gas industry are to be extended into 2029.
This is bad news for Scottish Conservative leader Douglas Ross. Over the weekend at party conference in Aberdeen, Mr Ross said extending the windfall tax would be an “unacceptable blow” to the industry.
He said he made this point to the Chancellor before the Budget statement, and has since branded the announcement “deeply disappointing”. Mr Ross has now said he will refuse to vote on the spending plans.
The non-dom Non-doms, or nondomiciled residents, are people who live in the UK, but are not classed as permanently settled here. They do not have to pay UK taxes on foreign income, allowing wealthy individuals such as Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s wife Akshata Murty to live in the UK and make major savings.
The existing non-dom tax system is to be abolished and replaced with a residency based system from April 2025. New arrivals to the UK will not be required to pay any tax on foreign incomes for the first four years, but after that will be subject to the same tax rates as other UK residents. The scottish finance secretary Scotland is to receive £300 min Barnett consequentials on the back of the Spring Budget. But this has not been welcomed by Scottish finance secretary
Shona Robison.
Ms Robison said: “Today’s statement provides not a single penny more for capital funding, and the Barnett consequentials from health that were signalled by the Chancellor are actually less than the in-year health consequentials of 2023/24 and less than what is needed to address the pressures we face.” The holiday-let owner there are special tax rules for rental income on properties that are classed as furnished holiday lets, but this is to be abolished. Mr Hunt says this is needed as there are not enough furnished properties available for longterm rent.
The smoker In a bid to discourage non-smokers from taking up vaping, an excise duty on vapes will be introduced. Similarly there will also now be a one-off increase in tobacco duty to maintain the financial incentive to choose vaping over tobacco. The pensioner Charity Age UK says this Budget does nothing for anyone receiving the state age pension, as they do not pay National Insurance and will not benefit from the 2p cut.
The charity also said the six-month extension to the household support fund announced was “not long enough” and would leave older people on low-fixed incomes “without recourse to extra help through the winter months”.