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Sam Taylor @staylorish.bsky.social · 14h

John Swinney has achieved something today. He has brought Scotland together. The new independence paper has been lambasted by absolutely everyone.

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Sam Taylor @staylorish.bsky.social · 21h

“What is this?”

“Is this something like the Growth Commission? Because it feels a little bit more like it’s been rushed out on a Wednesday morning before your conference as a piece of party management.”

Good questions. And terrible answers from Swinney.

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Sam Taylor @staylorish.bsky.social · 4d

Have those clamouring for Scot Gov to take equity stakes in offshore wind projects looked at the share price of Ørsted - the world’s largest offshore wind developer - lately?

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Reposted by Sam Taylor

Sam Taylor @staylorish.bsky.social · 6d

1/ Update. The data cited below strongly suggested that John Swinney misled parliament yesterday, but it wasn’t quite definitive. Because all taxpayers in Scotland benefit from the 19% starter rate, the tipping point at which taxpayers paid more in 2023-24 was about £2k above…

Sam Taylor @staylorish.bsky.social · 6d

1/ According to the latest Scottish Income Tax Outturn Statistics, intermediate + higher + top rate taxpayers were 57% of all taxpayers in Scotland in 2023-24.

These bands all pay tax at rates higher than the rUK equivalents.

Source: www.gov.uk/government/s...

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Reposted by Sam Taylor

Sam Taylor @staylorish.bsky.social · 5d

1/ John Swinney has not only misled parliament. His government has also broken repeated budget commitments, made firstly by him as acting Cabinet Secretary for Finance, and subsequently (twice) by Shona Robison.

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Sam Taylor @staylorish.bsky.social · 5d

3/ Source:

Scotland's Tax Strategy: Building on our Tax Principles

Scotland's Tax Strategy: Building on our Tax Principles sets out the next steps in the evolution of the tax landscape in Scotland, expanding on our Framework for Tax published in 2021.

www.gov.scot

Sam Taylor @staylorish.bsky.social · 5d

2/ In December 2024, the Scottish Government put the commitment into writing, in “Scotland's Tax Strategy” - a document published alongside the 2025-26 budget.

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Sam Taylor @staylorish.bsky.social · 5d

1/ John Swinney has not only misled parliament. His government has also broken repeated budget commitments, made firstly by him as acting Cabinet Secretary for Finance, and subsequently (twice) by Shona Robison.

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Sam Taylor @staylorish.bsky.social · 6d

@yvonneevans.bsky.social - thank you for spotting that wrinkle. I think this nails it down.

Sam Taylor @staylorish.bsky.social · 6d

1/ Update. The data cited below strongly suggested that John Swinney misled parliament yesterday, but it wasn’t quite definitive. Because all taxpayers in Scotland benefit from the 19% starter rate, the tipping point at which taxpayers paid more in 2023-24 was about £2k above…

Sam Taylor @staylorish.bsky.social · 6d

1/ According to the latest Scottish Income Tax Outturn Statistics, intermediate + higher + top rate taxpayers were 57% of all taxpayers in Scotland in 2023-24.

These bands all pay tax at rates higher than the rUK equivalents.

Source: www.gov.uk/government/s...

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Sam Taylor @staylorish.bsky.social · 6d

5/… misled parliament himself as to the true situation. Section 1.7(c) of the Ministerial Code requires John Swinney to correct the Official Report at the earliest opportunity. The FOI response from HMRC is here:

Scottish tax payers - a Freedom of Information request to HM Revenue and Customs

Can you please provide data confirming the number of people in Scotland (ie with a Scottish tax code) who earned less than £27,850 and the number of people who earned more than this for the 2023/24 ta...

www.whatdotheyknow.com

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Sam Taylor @staylorish.bsky.social · 6d

4/ In both years, HMRC data reveals that the majority of taxpayers were above the earnings threshold at which they paid more tax in Scotland than if they lived elsewhere in the UK. This means that John Swinney has falsely accused Russell Findlay of misleading parliament and…

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Sam Taylor @staylorish.bsky.social · 6d

3/ Scottish Income Tax applies only to non-savings non-dividend (NSND) income. Someone (not me) used an FOI request to ask HMRC for the number of taxpayers in Scotland with NSND income above and below the relevant tipping points in 2023-24 and 2024-25.

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Sam Taylor @staylorish.bsky.social · 6d

2/… the bottom of the intermediate rate band. This would only change the conclusion if 7% of taxpayers fell into that narrow £2k slice of the band - an unlikely scenario. However, because of an FOI response from HMRC, that unlikely scenario can be definitively ruled out.

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Sam Taylor @staylorish.bsky.social · 6d

1/ Update. The data cited below strongly suggested that John Swinney misled parliament yesterday, but it wasn’t quite definitive. Because all taxpayers in Scotland benefit from the 19% starter rate, the tipping point at which taxpayers paid more in 2023-24 was about £2k above…

Sam Taylor @staylorish.bsky.social · 6d

1/ According to the latest Scottish Income Tax Outturn Statistics, intermediate + higher + top rate taxpayers were 57% of all taxpayers in Scotland in 2023-24.

These bands all pay tax at rates higher than the rUK equivalents.

Source: www.gov.uk/government/s...

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Sam Taylor @staylorish.bsky.social · 6d

Source: www.gov.scot/publications...

Scottish Income Tax 2023-24: factsheet

A factsheet on the changes made to Scottish Income Tax for 2023 to 2024.

www.gov.scot

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Sam Taylor @staylorish.bsky.social · 6d

The Swinney claim seems to rest on Scot Gov modelling, which for 2023-24 made the forecast below. The 2023-24 outturn data shows the modelling materially underestimated the number of taxpayers in the intermediate and higher rate bands, and overestimated the number in the basic rate band.

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Sam Taylor @staylorish.bsky.social · 6d

That’s true. But are 7% of taxpayers in that narrow band at the very bottom end of the intermediate rate? Seems unlikely.

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Reposted by Sam Taylor

Sam Taylor @staylorish.bsky.social · 6d

2/ At FMQs today, John Swinney scolded Russell Findlay for misleading parliament, and said this:

“Over half of taxpayers in Scotland continue to pay less tax than if they lived elsewhere in the United Kingdom.”

Is Russell Findlay owed an apology? Did John Swinney mislead parliament?

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Sam Taylor @staylorish.bsky.social · 6d

2/ At FMQs today, John Swinney scolded Russell Findlay for misleading parliament, and said this:

“Over half of taxpayers in Scotland continue to pay less tax than if they lived elsewhere in the United Kingdom.”

Is Russell Findlay owed an apology? Did John Swinney mislead parliament?

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Sam Taylor @staylorish.bsky.social · 6d

1/ According to the latest Scottish Income Tax Outturn Statistics, intermediate + higher + top rate taxpayers were 57% of all taxpayers in Scotland in 2023-24.

These bands all pay tax at rates higher than the rUK equivalents.

Source: www.gov.uk/government/s...

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Sam Taylor @staylorish.bsky.social · 7d

Swinney’s rhetoric on energy is simply dishonest. I asked Scot Gov for real world data, not modelling, which evidenced generation assets in Scotland delivering “low cost” energy.

The answer: we’ve got nothing. The only thing they could cite was hopelessly out of date modelling.

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Sam Taylor @staylorish.bsky.social · 7d

And in Scotland, it’s not at all clear the civil servants know what they are doing either...

Sam Taylor @staylorish.bsky.social · 8d

1/ Shona Robison gave evidence yesterday to the Finance & Public Administration Committee, and did not know what the government’s target for reducing civil service headcount is. The convener of the committee had to tell the Cabinet Secretary what her own target is. 🤯

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Sam Taylor @staylorish.bsky.social · 7d

But usually the minister concerned can at least remember the list of things which have been done on their behalf.

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Sam Taylor @staylorish.bsky.social · 7d

2/ Beyond ridiculous that we have a Cabinet Secretary for Finance who has no idea what she’s doing, or indeed what she has already done. Presumably because she cannot be trusted to do anything herself.

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Sam Taylor @staylorish.bsky.social · 7d

1/ Shona Robison tells the Finance & Public Administration Committee she hasn’t yet raised a particular issue with the Chief Secretary to the Treasury, at which point a civil servant pushes over a laptop to remind Robison that she has in fact reached an agreement on the issue.

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