SCOTTISH TAX - 27.01.2016

Initial rate of SRIT announced

The Scottish rate of income tax for 2016/17 has now been confirmed. What will the position be for affected clients, and what will you need to do?

SRIT

The Scottish Finance secretary announced on 16 December 2015 that for 2016/17, the Scottish rate of income tax (SRIT) would be set at 10% (see Follow up ).

As a reminder, the actual tax rate paid by Scottish taxpayers will be main UK rate - 10% + SRIT .

The announcement therefore means that Scottish taxpayers will continue to pay tax at the same rate as the rest of the UK.

Non-event?

John Swinney explained that under the current structure, there was no alternative but to set the rate at 10% because to do otherwise would impact adversely on the poor, or be seen as an unwelcome tax break to higher earners.

Scottish taxpayers

As a reminder, Scottish taxpayers will be those who have an address in Scotland and spend most of their time there. HMRC will use the address stored on its systems to determine this and issue an S prefix PAYE code, with taxpayers encouraged to contact them if the address is incorrect.

SRIT set at 10%

In terms of tax there will be no difference to the overall rate that your Scottish clients will pay, as the rate has been set to align with the main UK rates. However, you will still need to operate the S prefix PAYE code for these clients.

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