Married? You could lose tax break of £260 admits SNP
SCOTS couples face losing a £260-a-year tax break from April because of the SNP’s Budget, ministers confirmed yesterday.
Finance Secretary Derek Mackay said he can give no assurance that last-minute changes will be made to stop those who earn more than £24,000 a year from losing their entitlement to marriage allowance.
He was last night accused of trying to shift blame for the hidden impact of his own tax proposals after he claimed the UK Government was to blame for the ‘anomaly’.
Opponents said the marriage allowance is only under threat because Mr Mackay failed to ‘do his homework’ to analyse the hidden effects of his ‘incoherent’ tax plans.
The allowance cuts the tax bill of people paying the basic rate if their spouse is out of work or in a low-income job.
When one partner earns less than £11,500 they can transfer up to £1,150 of their tax-free personal allowance to their spouse, which can save the couple up to £230 a year. Changes to the personal allowance from April means the potential saving will rise to £260.
When he unveiled his tax plans in his Budget last month, Mr Mackay announced that every taxpayer earning £24,001 to £44,273 will pay a new 21p-inthe-pound ‘intermediate’ income tax rate, while those on between £11,850 and £13,850 will pay a 19p ‘starter’ rate.
The Scottish Government’s revised tax rates mean hundreds of thousands of taxpayers will not be eligible to claim marriage allowance because it can only be claimed by those on the basic rate – those earning between £13,850 and £24,000.
Mr Mackay told the Scottish parliament’s finance committee the threat to marriage allowance is an ‘unintended consequence’ of his tax policies and claimed it is for the UK Government to resolve the problem. He added: ‘At maximum it is £260 tax relief per couple for those affected and could be resolved in advance of the new financial year with a minor technical change if the UK Government chose to do it.’
It is estimated that hundreds of thousands of Scots are eligi- ble to benefit from the policy, which costs around £18million a year north of the border.
Scottish Tory constitution spokesman Adam Tomkins said: ‘I don’t think he has done his homework. It is a question of competence: how competently are these powers being exercised? We have an incoherent taxation policy full of anomalies yet he wants to blame someone else for it.’
A UK Government spokesman said: ‘Devolved income tax powers give the Scottish Government increased autonomy and accountability over the tax paid by Scottish taxpayers.
‘We will consider any implications of recent changes for the Marriage Allowance.’
‘He hasn’t done his homework’
IT’S the sort of ‘wisnae me’ response we might expect from a stroppy teenager rather than a senior politician.
When it emerged that Finance Secretary Derek Mackay’s new income tax plans will mean hundreds of thousands of Scots will lose their marriage allowance, he immediately pointed the finger at Westminster, saying it was down to the UK Government to sort out the mess.
What a pitiful reaction. The simple fact is that Mr Mackay is entirely to blame for the consequences of his ill-judged tax hikes, which will cost Scottish families dear.
The SNP has spent years demanding more powers for Holyrood. Now those powers have been delivered, Mr Mackay and his colleagues must accept the responsibility that comes with them.