Scotland Bill published 1 June 2015
The substantial new powers contained in the Scotland Bill include enabling the Scottish Parliament to set the thresholds and rates of income tax in Scotland.
The Scotland Bill has been published and will implement the recommendations from The Smith Commission which includes that the Scottish Parliament be given the power to set income tax rates and bands on earned income and to retain all of the income tax raised in Scotland. We already know that the Scotland Act 2012 gives the Scottish Parliament the power to set the rates of Income Tax and the thresholds at which these are paid for the non-savings and non-dividend income of Scottish taxpayers. This will come into effect in April 2016 and there will be no restrictions on the thresholds or rates the Scottish Parliament can set. All other aspects of Income Tax will remain reserved to the UK Parliament, including the personal allowance, the taxation of savings and dividend income and the ability to introduce and amend tax reliefs and the definition of income. We recently reported that the Prime Minister was considering further tax powers for Scotland after a meeting with the Scottish First Minister. There is nothing obvious in the Scotland Bill pertaining to this, however we will keep an eye on what the law experts have to say when the Bill has been dissected and will report if there is anything relevant to employers and the payroll profession.
The Scotland Bill is not yet an act of law as the detail still needs to be debated by the Houses of Parliament.
Scottish Agricultural Minimum Wage 4 June 2015
A rise in the minimum wage rate for agricultural workers, in line with the National Minimum Wage, has been proposed by the Scottish Agricultural Wages Board. (SAWB).
Views sought on proposed increase. If approved, the minimum rate of pay for agricultural workers with more than 26 weeks continuous employment will increase by 10p per hour to £7.24 from October 1, 2015 - bringing the minimum wage for a 39 hour week to £282.36.
Views are being sought on the proposed increase – which is in line with increases to the National Minimum Wage - by June 30, 2015.
The proposed headline minimum hourly rates are:
£6.70 for all workers in the first 26 weeks of employment. This increase of 20p per hour is in line with increases to the National Minimum Wage. For overtime, the minimum hourly rate should rise to £10.05 (an increase of 30p per hour) £7.24 (an increase of 10p per hour) for all workers employed for more than 26 weeks by the same employer. For overtime, the minimum hourly rate should rise to £10.86 (an increase of 15p per hour) £4.02 (an increase of 6p per hour) for workers who undertake a Level 2 Modern Apprenticeship in Agriculture An additional £1.10 per hour (an increase of 2p per hour) for those workers with appropriate qualifications
Follow this link for details on how to respond to the proposals.
Consultation on future of of the Scottish Agricultural Wages Board
On 27 May 2015 a consultation was published on the future of the Scottish Agricultural Wages, its purpose being to seek views on whether:
CIPP Policy News Journal
25/04/2016, Page 401 of 453
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