Aberdeen residents pay most tax in Scotland

IT is already established as a pillar of the Scottish economy but it has now been revealed that residents in Aberdeen pay more income tax than anywhere else in Scotland.

New research shows that those living in the Granite City pay more tax than those in Edinburgh, with a growth in well-paid jobs seeing the average income tax rise twice as fast as London’s average tax bill and 12 times faster than the growth of the national average.

Aberdeen is now ranked 17th in a top 100 ranking of average income tax payments in towns and cities across the UK, with residents paying £5950 a year.

It now sits just above Edinburgh, 18th in the league, where workers pay an average of £5750. By contrast, those living in Glasgow pay an average of £3390.

The research by accountancy firm UHY Hacker Young shows that the highest income tax payments in the UK can be found in the Surrey enclave of Elmbridge, with an average deduction of £16,100 per worker.

Although it has just over 131,000 residents, the area, a draw for Russian oligarchs and footballers’ wives, sits just above Glasgow – Scotland’s largest city and home to just over 580,000 people – in a second table that charts the total tax paid per area.

Mark Giddens, head of private client services with UHY Hacker Young, said residents of Aberdeen had seen the biggest growth in income tax bills (17.6%) over the five years to 2011, compared with the rest of the UK.

After Aberdeen and Edinburgh, the next area in Scotland to be ranked based on income tax payments is Perth and Kinross, where the average handed to the Treasury is £4020. This is the 42nd highest rate in the UK.