Draft Scottish Rates of Income Tax (Consequential Amendments) Order 2024

James Wild Excerpts

Monday 2nd December 2024 General Committees

[James Wild (North West Norfolk) (Con)]

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Sir Roger, and I am grateful to the Minister for her opening remarks and her brevity in setting out what the draft order does.

The new rates introduced by the Scottish Parliament mean that the higher income tax band is 42% and the Scottish advanced income tax rate is 45%. The order will avoid disparity, and we will not seek to divide the Committee—although that was tempting before the reinforcements turned up on the Government Benches. It is worth highlighting that the Scottish Parliament’s changes have made their tax system more complex; there are now six rates compared with three across the rest of the UK.

I will ask the Minister some questions, as we have all gathered here. What is the impact of deficiency relief payments on Exchequer revenues? How many taxpayers in Scotland will benefit—she referred to a small number—and what will the impact be on revenue? Given that the measures relate to changes from the beginning of this tax year in April, will she confirm that she will seek to bring in such provisions in response to changes more rapidly than the six months that this has taken?

In conclusion, although this order is needed due to the increased complexity of the Scottish Government, thankfully, these provisions actually simplify the effect in legislation.