To think that the Scottish government have made the right decision to increase tax for higher earners

[ChristmasCaroline]

Ok, no one wants to pay extra tax. But it’s needed to fund the NHS.

at least it’s higher earners being hit.

The threshold is far too low. The incredibly wealthy have always been able to hide assets and will continue to do so. I feel sorry for people who are in the position of being just over the limit.

@Shiraztonight and @SueVineer my niece is a single parent and did a PT OU degree to improve her lot and never received maintenance, she works for the NHS in England. She would be in exactly the same sort of position as you two after bothering to improve her and her daughters life chances. It like being penalised for managing to be successful.

I've been swithering with increasing my hours to full time - I'm only 5 below but means I can work 4 days rather than 5. It would help with my pension, but all of it would be taxed at the increased rate and lord knows what will have happened to state pensions by the time I retire. This tax increase has made me firmly decide not to bother.

So I may as well enjoy my free day now whilst I have health and income to do so as there is so little incentive to work more, or save for the future.

I'm only one insignificant person, but I'd imagine there are many others in a similar position, leading to much lost tax revenue.

I am in the position of being at the threshold where I am just below the top rate tax level in England, but well over in Scotland. As a household we pay a several thousand more in tax every year than we would down south.

However, I am happy to. We get free prescriptions, I have an NHS dentist, kids have free bus travel. And more to the point, so do all the other people who couldn't afford these things as easily as us.

It's not perfect, but I think the priorities are largely right.

House prices are generally cheaper in Scotland than England so what people save in tax, they probably pay for elsewhere

At least at the end of the mortgage term, you own a valuable asset though so I don't think those with the means, who can afford the move, will necessarily begrudge that.

Whereas if you spend the extra on a higher tax bill, you're not necessarily the one who is going to see any benefit from it.

Generally the incomes we're talking of are too small to make it worthwhile offshoring. However I can imagine that plenty of people who just cross the threshold will be increasing their pension contributions to avoid it.

House prices are generally cheaper in Scotland than England so what people save in tax, they probably pay for elsewhere

House prices in Central Edinburgh average around £360k. Surrounding towns exceed £500k. Imagine that you're a working in Edinburgh's financial sector (not on megabucks, just £45k), would you not be considering moving down to Berwick-upon-Tweed (average house price £230k) and hybrid working from there?

We’ve decided also to go down the charitable donation route since it’s tax deductible. We can select charities with good stewardship where the money will be well spent. We fill out tax returns anyway so it’s just another line on the form.

Some will, some won't but I don't think it's going to be a mass exodus. There have also been plenty of people moving to Scotland from the South and working their jobs remotely or with minimal travel in order to live in huge houses that they could never afford where they were - certainly been a few of those families up near us since lockdown - so sure there will be some balance.

It's not just about people leaving, but also the other ways that people will avoid paying a 54% marginal rate of tax, levied at a relatively low threshold. We've seen plenty listed above:

Increasing pension contributions
Charitable donations
Refusing overtime or promotions
Going part-time

The last two in particular will limit productivity in Scotland, and lead to a reduced tax take. At the very least the SG should equalise the threshold with the point at which NI drops.

Few of my Sottish mates are increasing their pension contributions because of it, so the tax take the Scottish government would usually get from them is going down rather than going up.

It will never be saved when it's insisted upon that the only thing that is able to "save" it; is an endless amount of cash.

Think it was worked out to something stupid that by at this point, they could have paid off all the shipyard workers with a ludicrous redundancy payout, (talking hundreds of thousands of pounds each) and still have enough to have ordered the ferries from a shipyard somewhere else, and that they would both be in service by now, had they done that; absolutely laughable.

Biker47, there are 385 workers at Ferguson. They could have had a redundancy payment of half a million each and still left enough money for twelve ferries from a Vietnanese shipbuilder!
The SNP haven’t a business brain cell between them. Useless shower.

@Thebestwaytoscareatory the Tories in England are a pretty short yard stick….doing better than them doesn’t necessarily mean the SNP are doing a good job. And as my Mother always said ‘it doesn’t matter what anyone else is doing’.

The principal of taxing the higher earners is a good one bit in reality the top rate of tax is not set at a high enough level. Single income homes on the top rate threshold are only marginally better off than those on benefits after paying tax etc. The tax rate should take into account overall household income and should be set much higher.

Better still tax corporations properly.

Pension contributions already upped to offset this.

SG will get less.

Silly policy. Great theory, no real world help.

Why no maintenance?

We can't have everything for free.
I'd rather pay and get better quality service...

@Charmanderchick absolutely agree with your post.
I’m not sure in Scotland that there isn’t a large grey area where increase in salary doesn’t pay.
Particularly when the new child payment is taken into account. I’d love to see it charted.

We currently pay £3300 more in tax than in England in our household. I know that we are extremely fortunate, however it does grate that one of us is at the threshold to repay a little child benefit but we are so significantly worse off than down south. But we almost feel vilified by the Scottish government, with the continued statements that we are high earners! And that my pay rate within the NHS
I would have no issue with paying more if I felt that we (as a nation) received more in return, but sadly I don’t. The level of poverty within Glasgow is disgusting, the reduced life expectancy is horrendous. Google Glasgow effect to see the issues. Perhaps given in time the increased tax will have an impact, but nothing evident so far.

Hungrycaterpillar - No maintenance because dc father is dead, and no help that way as he died after we divorced. I'm not asking for anything for free but do feel 54% tax take on some of my income is excessive

How much if the higher rate will you need to be paying a year?

I didn't say it did mean they were doing a good job but the alternative to a SNP government is a Tory/Labour one, which would be significantly worse.

Case in point is the Ferry fiasco. You've got posters on here lambasting the SNP for the mess they've made there at the cost of £350m and using that as an example as to why they shouldnt be in power.

Yet the same posters don't even bat an eyelid at the Tories spending £18.5 billion of UK (including Scottish) taxpayers money on a trainline to service only London (which was 5 years late and £4billion over budget).

The SNP aren't great by any stretch of the imagination but there infinitely better than the alternatives.

So it’s ok for there to be cuts to education in real terms of 5% , resulting in cuts in subjects and larger class sizes, yet she’s happy to spend the money on foreign offices which aren’t needed?
I know someone who moved up here as an English teacher from a deprived part of London and reckoned that the Scottish students were about 18 months behind and our local school is considered to be one of the best in the area. I’m glad my children are through the education system now.

I'm not sure on this. I don't really consider £43,662 to be a "higher earner".

It isn't. that's the problem. Salaries in the UK have barely seen any growth.

govs also need to stop taxing income so heavily & go after wealth.

is the policy even going to raise enough money? Scotland has an ageing population so it will just require more & more tax as they aren't enough workers.