Those lucky enough to be earning more, happy enough to pay usually. Mon e devolution!
Good
So, some https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Progressive_tax plan? Was there any progression before? (I’m not a true Scotsman, or even a fake one.)
Yes, higher rates for higher earners and a progressive rate has long been a british income tax feature, with many bands having been used, including zero rated for low earners. Where this is news however is that Holyrood in Edinburgh is asking higher earners for more, as opposed to Westminster in London who are trying to cut taxes for high earners. Scotland raised an extra £1.5bn according to the article last year, and are trying for more again this year
It’s already progressive, this article is about adding a new tax band.
High earner starts at 75k. This is wild and seems very behind the times. I would call 75k barely middle class, not anywhere close to the term “high earner”.
Either way, it’ll be interesting to see how this plays out. A 45% tax starting so low may end up pushing people out of the country to more favorable tax situations.
I would call 75k barely middle class, not anywhere close to the term “high earner”.
We have very different definitions of middle class and high earner.
Spoilers: a deviation of tax from England hasn’t yet seen any statistical evidence of economic migration
I highly expect that to continue to be the case. But it will be interesting to watch if there is any net effect.
Please define “high earner”.
Literally written directly under the headline
3 or 4 times the average wage seems fair.
They are literally just adding more tax brackets to the existing ones.
Your run of the mill wealthy person doesn’t “earn high income” on paper. Expect a lot of people suddenly earning 69999 next tax cycle
That’s just not how it works. It’s income above that threshold that is taxed at the new rate. And Scotland have deviated for a year already and haven’t seen any exoduses, only extra money
I think he’s talking about how rich people are valuable on paper but they’re typically not very liquid at any given time. Like how Musk or Bezos don’t actually have bank accounts with hundreds of billions of dollars in them; they just take out loans against their asset portfolio when they need something.
Unless this hits them hard in capital gains, you aren’t doing anything but taxing workers; and even then I don’t think these loans count as income.
EDIT: top earners get £75k? wut?
Top earners get 75k, because people earning more than that are rarely paid in a fixed wage.
They get stock options, stuff gets moved to an off-shore company, you start a company that pays you out a dividend under the threshold, any income paid out gets spread between partners, etc.
Until the Scottish government tackles large land owners, capital, and loopholes this is partly(!!!) performative. Something’s better than nothing though.
I think you simply didn’t understand me. I’m talking about tax dodging by wealthy people. If you think this plan doesn’t already have convenient loopholes, then I’m afraid you are naíve to think wealthy people are simply going to pay up.
I have fair bit of insight into the UK tax world through CA circles. In fact, if you like reading, I would recommend a book called “Taxtopia” that was just recently published. That might serve as a good introduction.
This isn’t designed to close loopholes, indeed the Scottish Government cannot tackle these
Look up how tax bands work mate.
