The Scottish tax proposals for 2019/20 were unveiled on 12th December 2018 by Finance Secretary, Derek Mackay. 

Last year he introduced two new additional tax bands, so Scottish taxpayers now pay income tax at five different rates on non-savings, non-dividend income.

The personal allowance, the threshold under which you are not liable to tax, will be the same as the rest of the UK – £12,500 for 2019/20. 

Once taxpayers go above that threshold the following rates apply:

£12,501 – £14,549      19%     Starter rate

£14,550 – £24,944      20%     Basic rate 

£24,945 – £43,430      21%     Intermediate rate 

£43,431 – £150,000    41%     Higher rate 

£150,000 +                  46%     Top rate 

Who pays less?  – Only a very small band of earnings, the “starter rate”, will see Scottish taxpayers pay less than their UK counterparts. The maximum saving will be £20.50 per year. 

Who pays more?  –  Many Scottish taxpayers will be left with higher tax bills than the rest of the UK due to the extra 1% tax on the intermediate rate and higher rate tax bands. The decision not to raise the higher rate threshold in line with the UK also means a larger tax liability for Scottish taxpayers.