Scottish workers and businesses are eagerly seeking relief from what they describe as the burden of ‘crippling’ taxes imposed by the Scottish National Party (SNP), according to the Scottish Conservatives’ leader.
During a tour of ‘Blue Wall’ constituencies near the English border, Russell Findlay on Wednesday spotlighted the growing tax disparity between Scotland and England.
Despite concerns about higher taxes for Scots, First Minister John Swinney defended his tax policies, asserting that affluent individuals are not discouraged from residing in Scotland due to the current tax structure.
At present, anyone earning over £33,493 annually in Scotland faces higher income taxes compared to their counterparts in the rest of the United Kingdom.
For instance, those earning £45,000 pay an additional £396, while the extra tax amount rises to £1,496 for a £50,000 salary and £2,050 for those earning £75,000.
High earners are particularly affected, with individuals making £100,000 paying £3,300 more, those earning £300,000 facing an additional £10,431, and for million-pound earners, the tax difference soars to £31,431.
Concerns have also been raised about higher poundage rates for non-domestic rates in Scotland, meaning firms are landed with bigger business rates bills.
Findlay said the tax divergence between Scotland and England is suffocating economic growth
On a visit to Gretna Green, Mr Findlay said the tax divergence between Scotland and England is suffocating economic growth and exacerbating the cost of living crisis.
He said: ‘Scottish workers and businesses are desperate for a break from the SNP’s crippling high-tax regime. It’s unfair and wrong that individuals on relatively modest incomes are paying thousands of pounds a year more than they would elsewhere in the UK, particularly during a cost-of-living crisis.
‘The Nationalists have stifled growth by imposing higher bills on Scottish firms – and they arrogantly ignored warnings that their brutal rates revaluation would force many businesses to close. Nowhere is the damage of the SNP’s punitive tax policy felt more acutely than in this area, where hospitality businesses are at a competitive disadvantage with rivals south of the Border.
‘The Scottish Conservatives are committed to cutting bills for households and businesses by reining in John Swinney’s ballooning benefits spending – and if voters back us on May 7, we can stop an SNP majority.’
The Tories say the tax divide is even more striking in areas close to the Border.
Craig Hoy, the Scottish Conservative candidate for Dumfriesshire, said: ‘Individuals and businesses in Dumfriesshire are sick of being clobbered by an SNP government that treats them like a cash cow.
‘People living in this area, a number of whom work just south of the border in areas such as Carlisle, are paying far more in income tax than their colleagues, but are getting less in return from public services that are in meltdown.
‘If John Swinney really cared about the cost-of-living crisis, he’d cut income tax to give hard-pressed households some respite. Instead, he keeps dragging more and more middle earners into higher tax brackets.’
During Tuesday’s STV debate, Reform UK’s Scottish leader Lord Malcolm Offord highlighted his own wealth when attempting to highlight the importance of high earners to the economy.
He said he went to London with £2,000 of debt 40 years ago, worked hard and was successful, and now owns ‘six houses, five cars and six boats’, while in his business career ‘I’ve employed hundreds of thousands of people and paid £45million in tax’.
When Lord Offord asked Scottish Greens co-leader Ross Greer ‘do you want more people like me, or fewer people like me’, he replied: ‘Fewer people like you.’
Asked if he agreed, SNP leader John Swinney said: ‘Obviously I want to make sure that we generate wealth and growth in the Scottish economy, that’s what my manifesto is about, it’s what my track record as a minister in the Scottish Government has all been about, and I am very pleased Scotland’s economic growth outstripped that of the United Kingdom in last year.’
John Swinney insisted he wanted people to be ‘successful’ in Scotland
He said there needs to be ‘a fair tax system that recognises that people on higher incomes should pay their fair share in taxation’.
He added: ‘I want there to be successful people in Scotland, of course I do.’
Pressed on whether he believes the current approach to income tax and land and buildings transaction tax is deterring high net worth individuals, Mr Swinney said: ‘I don’t, because we see growth in the number of people coming into Scotland to be taxpayers, so there is a growth in the tax base.
‘I made it very clear that I want to lead a successful and dynamic Scottish economy, and that includes the generation of wealth and growth in our economy.’
Meanwhile, in the north east, Tory candidates Douglas Lumsden and Alexander Burnett produced a dossier of 26 local SNP ‘scandals’, including uncertainty on its North Sea drilling position, the closure of minor injury units leading to crisis at Aberdeen Royal Infirmary, and the delays to vital safety improvements on the A90 and A96 roads.
