Scottish Rate of Income Tax – July 2015 update
Scotland to Abolish Employment Tribunal Fees 4 September 2015
In the recently published Programme for Scotland 2015-16, the Scottish Government has announced their intention to abolish fees for employment tribunals to ensure that employees have a fair opportunity to have their case heard. The publication ‘ A Stronger Scotland: The Government's Programme for Scotland 2015-16 ' does not state when they intend to abolish the fees but does say that they will be consulting on the shape of services that can best support people’s access to employment justice as part of the transfer of the powers for Employment Tribunals to Scotland. In July 2015 the Scottish Government published proposals for devolution beyond the Smith Commission recommendations that would provide a coherent package of powers to boost competitiveness and tackle inequality. These included business and employment taxation, employment rights including the National Minimum Wage, and the social security system. Short of independence, the Scottish Government’s preferred approach is full fiscal autonomy. They are continuing discussions with the UK Government to secure changes to the Scotland Bill both to meet the Smith Commission recommendations in full and beyond. They state that their aim is to secure a Bill, and an accompanying fair financial agreement with the UK Government, that it can recommend to the Scottish Parliament.
CIPP comment The Scottish Rate of Income Tax is due to be announced in November and in the interim we shall be closely monitoring developments as the Scotland Bill and associated amendments make their way through parliamentary scrutiny.
Scottish Rate of Income Tax not sufficiently publicised 20 October 2015
90% of those who responded to a recent CIPP poll do not think that the introduction of the Scottish Rate of Income Tax has been sufficiently publicised to employers and tax payers.
Throughout the month of September and into early October we ran a poll on the home page of our website asking:
“Do you think the introduction of the Scottish Rate of Income Tax has been sufficiently well publicised to employers and tax payers?” Yes or No?
We received a total of 237 responses of which only 23 (10%) people said Yes and an overwhelming 214 (90%) said No.
We know that HMRC will be writing to those individuals that, according to the information they currently hold, are or will be Scottish taxpayers come April 2016. And it is down to those in our types of industry to keep employers informed, however what about the many taxpayers that won’t hear about the Scottish Rate of Income Tax from HMRC or professional bodies? Certain media channels seem to be picking up on the changes, now that it is only 6 months away from implementation but there has been no mention of a wider publicity campaign, so be prepared to answer questions from employees on the subject of Scottish Income tax. In our October 2015 edition of Professional in Payroll, Pensions & Reward we have an article on this very subject giving the latest details (pages 28-30). Our magazine is also available to view on the CIPP website under News/Publications The most recent Employer Bulletin from HMRC also includes an article and they have highlighted a Scottish Rate of Income Tax news page on GOV.UK that has been developed to provide updates and the latest information to employers on implementation.
CIPP Policy News Journal
25/04/2016, Page 406 of 453
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