SNP ‘situation planning’ for hitting Scots with recent revenue tax hikes, confirms finance secretary

The SNP could hit hard-working Scots with even higher taxes, the Finance Secretary has confirmed.

Shona Robison is set to ‘revisit’ a vow not to raise tax before the Holyrood election if Rachel Reeves hikes income tax and cuts national insurance in the UK budget.

Ms Robison said she faced a ‘nightmare’ scenario because of ‘unforeseen exceptional circumstances’ and was ‘planning for every eventuality’.

Economists estimate the Chancellor’s expected changes would cut Holyrood’s funding by £1billion under the ‘fiscal framework’ agreed by Edinburgh and London.

Scottish Tory finance spokesman Craig Hoy said: ‘Shona Robison and the SNP are signalling yet again that higher taxes for Scotland are being actively considered.

‘After last year’s promises to leave income tax alone, the Chancellor is giving the Nationalists an excuse to hike tax, putting families and businesses at risk. Scotland deserves leaders who will manage our finances responsibly – not generate more economic uncertainty and financial pain.’

Ms Robison’s warning comes less than a fortnight after John Swinney told a conference for the IPPR think-tank that he was sticking to his party’s 2024 pledge not to change income tax for the rest of the current parliament.

Finance secretary Shona Robison has hinted at tax rises for Scots

Scottish Labour leader says he wants ‘to reduce the tax burden’

But after reports Ms Reeves will add 2p to basic income tax and cut 2p from national insurance to help plug a £30billion hole in the UK finances, Mr Swinney refused to repeat his promise at First Minister’s Questions.

On BBC Scotland’s Sunday Show, Ms Robison confirmed tax rises are being explored, despite previous promises.

Asked about coping with a £1billion cut in funding, she said: ‘We are scenario planning for every eventuality and looking at what the options may be. This £1billion is of such a magnitude it can’t just be magicked away.’

Pushed on whether she would raise Scottish income tax in her January 13 budget if Ms Reeves hikes UK income tax on November 26, Ms Robison said: ‘If we end up in this scenario, then the levers available to us are very limited. We don’t want to raise taxes. We had already set out in the tax strategy that we wanted to see that stability till the end of the parliament.

‘But in the event of unforeseen exceptional circumstances, clearly we would have to potentially revisit that. So we are looking at all of the scenarios and the all of the options here.’

Scottish taxpayers earning above £30,318 pay more in income tax than their equivalents resident south of the Border.

The SNP previously called on Ms Reeves to raise income tax on higher earners. Ms Robison said that was to end austerity and bring more cash to Scotland via increased UK spending.

Using extra tax income to balance the books, cutting national insurance contributions [NICs] and not spending more was a ‘nightmare situation for Scotland’. She demanded an ‘urgent meeting’ with the Chancellor ‘to make sure she understands the risks to Scotland’.

Ms Robison said a mix of income tax and NICs changes was ‘never envisaged’. But her own tax strategy last December cited NICs changes at Westminster and promised not to raise Scottish income tax regardless.

‘Within this changing UK context, I want to give the people and businesses of Scotland all the certainty I can,’ she wrote in the introduction. ‘My intention for the remainder of this parliament is not to introduce any new bands or increase the rates of Scottish income tax.’

Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar told Radio 4: ‘I don’t support increasing income tax in Scotland. I want to reduce the tax burden in Scotland.’