Revealed: How SNP’s middle-class tax grab ‘will cost YOU £10k’

TAX hikes imposed by the SNP will cost middle-class Scots £10,000 each, according to shocking new research.

The average middle-income worker will have had to shell out £10,000 more in tax than their English counterparts by 2025, figures show.

Scotland’s squeezed middle has been paying more in income tax, on land and buildings transaction tax and in business rates for some time.

Yet the divergence in bills between Scotland and England has never been so stark, according to accountancy firm MCC Accountants.

Figures show that between 2017 and 2025, a senior NHS Scotland nurse with a salary of just over £50,000 will have paid £10,285 more in income tax than a nurse on the same salary in England.

Now, fears have been raised that the ‘major gulf’ in tax rates either side of the Border is driving away top talent.

Ahead of the Finance Secretary’s Budget Review next month, there are concerns that families will be further punished

‘Scots are paying more in tax than counterparts in England’

amid tax hikes to pay for the policies of the SNP-Scottish Greens coalition, as well as to prop up Scotland’s ailing public services.

Kate Forbes will deliver her review on December 9 – her first since the SNP created a political pact with the Greens in August.

Already the Scottish Government has vowed a Universal Basic Income will replace the benefits system, and it threatens to be hugely expensive.

Last night, Andrew Morrison, head of MCC Accountants, said: ‘Analysis shows a gulf in what Scottish workers are paying compared with equivalents in England.

‘Given how happy the SNP has been to hike taxes in the past, and with the fresh influence of the Greens, that could be set to grow.

‘In Scotland, we are short of 800 GPs, schools are sharing head teachers due to staff shortages, and key industries, such as financial services, risk losing talent to London, with such changes being easier for workers due to remote working arising from the pandemic.’

Those earning £43,663 in Scotland pay the highest tax rate of 41 per cent. In England, the high threshold is £50,271, and those earning that amount pay just 40 per cent.

This year, Scots in the higher tax bracket earning just over £50,000 will take home £36,169. Those on the same salary in England will take home £37,662, £1,493 more.

In total since 2017, Scots have lost out on £10,285 which their English counterparts did not have to pay. Mr Morrison added: ‘The SNP will make out it is only inflicting tax rises on the rich. But the £50,000 bracket includes senior nurses, senior teachers and many ordinary private sector workers.’

Scottish Conservative finance and economy spokesman Liz Smith said: ‘The Scottish public are paying more in tax than their counterparts south of the Border and getting less in return. The SNP have presided over years of decline in our NHS and other public services, while the costs of their bloated Government have spiralled out of control.’

Last night, a Scottish Government spokesman said: ‘The majority of Scottish taxpayers pay less income tax than they would if they lived elsewhere in the UK. Our decisions have resulted in a fairer and more progressive tax system, protecting lower and middle-income earners.’