Scottish LTT

[paradigm]

Happened to use one of the on-line calculators for Land Transaction Tax (LTT) - more commonly known as Stamp Duty in Scotland.

For purchasing a £500k property the tax is:
£23,350 in Scotland
£17,450 in Wales
£15,000 in England & NI

Rather a large sum in Scotland where there is also the highest income tax within the UK - through devolved powers to the governing SNP.

paradigm

[daveh]

Happened to use one of the on-line calculators for Land Transaction Tax (LTT) - more commonly known as Stamp Duty in Scotland.

For purchasing a £500k property the tax is:
£23,350 in Scotland
£17,450 in Wales
£15,000 in England & NI

Rather a large sum in Scotland where there is also the highest income tax within the UK - through devolved powers to the governing SNP.

paradigm

And your point is?

We (who live in Scotland) get extra services for our extra tax ( free prescription, more sensibly price dental treatment, free eye tests etc). Also you were a little selective with your house prices as LBTT as it is called in Scotland is less than England or wales on some lower priced properties. We have the same bands as England (0, 2, 5, 10 and 12%) start paying LBTT at a higher house price than England, but the higher bands apply sooner (but generally house prices are lower in Scotland). Wales seems worst for lower end houses as their first taxable band is 3.5% rather than 2% (but the 0% band is bigger than both Scotland and England). England is most generous for those buying properties >350K

EG For purchasing a £200K property the tax is
£700 in Wales
£1100 in Scotland
and
£1500 in England and NI


So tax in England is more than double that in Wales

[EverybodyKnows]

I believe Scotland also has the lowest income tax rates in the UK.

(Personally I would like to see taxes rise in all area but that is another matter.)

[swill453]

I believe Scotland also has the lowest income tax rates in the UK.

As per the first post in this thread - it has the highest in the UK.

Scott.

[Itsallaguess]

I believe Scotland also has the lowest income tax rates in the UK.

As per the first post in this thread - it has the highest in the UK.

It's actually a mix across the various (and varied...) income-tax bands...



Source - https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/debt- ... tax-rates/

So it's correct to say that Scotland has the 'highest income-tax-rate' in the UK, at 46% for earnings over £150,000, but it would also be correct to point out the lower 19% starter-rate for earnings between £12,501 and £14.549.

It looks to me as though Scotland are over-complicating things in order to be able to make specific claims across relatively small bands for lower earners. Personally I very much prefer the simpler England system, especially with the higher rate band starting at a much higher level than the Scotland higher-rate band.

Swings and roundabouts, of course, especially given the large disparity between some paid and free services between the two areas....

Cheers,

Itsallaguess

[EverybodyKnows]

I believe Scotland also has the lowest income tax rates in the UK.

As per the first post in this thread - it has the highest in the UK.

Scott.

My point was that it had both the highest and lowest rate of tax. If you are a higher earner you will pay more tax than in other areas but many pay less than in other areas.

[swill453]

It's actually a mix across the various (and varied...) income-tax bands...

Thanks I'd forgotten about the 19% starter rate. Means if you earn less than about £25K you pay about £20 per year less income tax.

Scott.

[swill453]

My point was that it had both the highest and lowest rate of tax.

Agreed, fair point.

Scott.

[scotia]

It looks to me as though Scotland are over-complicating things in order to be able to make specific claims across relatively small bands for lower earners.

Of course they are over-complicating it - quite deliberately. As others have mentioned, the best outcome for a low earner is about 38.5p extra per week. It is pure political pantomime so our Scottish Government can pronounce "Taxes are Lower under the SNP". Now if they had reduced the tax on that £2000 pound tax band to zero, then it would have made a difference of about £38.5 extra per week - which would have been an achievement.
And of course, as well as the Scottish tax bands and rates listed by Itsallaguess, the UK-wide tax bands and rates relating to interest, dividends and charitable donations also apply in Scotland. For instance, if you pay tax in the 21% band, and you make charitable donations which automatically receive the normal tax relief by the charity, then you are also entitled to some tax relief - you multiply your charitable contributions by 1.25, and add that to your Scottish Basic Rate Band!
So accurately working out what tax you really should be paying in Scotland is a nightmare .

[scotia]

Now if they had reduced the tax on that £2000 pound tax band to zero, then it would have made a difference of about £38.5 extra per week - which would have been an achievement.

It would also have required the rules of arithmetic to be altered. £2000 less 20% is £400 which is about £7.7 per week. Apologies

[daveh]

It looks to me as though Scotland are over-complicating things in order to be able to make specific claims across relatively small bands for lower earners. Personally I very much prefer the simpler England system, especially with the higher rate band starting at a much higher level than the Scotland higher-rate band.

Swings and roundabouts, of course, especially given the large disparity between some paid and free services between the two areas....

Cheers,

Itsallaguess

I don't mind paying a bit more tax, for the better services we get here. I do like the free precriptions eye tests etc. and they are good for those on low incomes or in need of regular prescriptions -which can soon add up. It is often easier and cheaper to supply these universally and claw the money back in higher taxes for the better off than try and do it via means testing.


However they are over complicating the tax system by 1) having too many bands and 2) playing around with the starting points of the bands with for example the higher rate band for income tax beeing the same as England for CGT and dividends ( as they are matter reserved to Westminster) and lower for income (decided by Holyrood). But part of that is due to our political and news sytems and the requirement to score points - ie be able to say they have reduced tax for the lowest whilst increasing tax for the better off. I'd have prefered keeping the number and starting points of the bands the same as the rest of the Uk and just increasing the rate by a penny to raise the extra cash required. It would make things a lot simpler.