Scottish Secretary Alistair Carmichael has welcomed changes to income tax that will see thousands of Scots workers taking more of their pay home. Mr Carmichael said Scotland is benefiting from being part of the ‘fastest growing economy on the world’.
From this weekend, 242,000 people in Scotland will be taken out of income tax altogether thanks to UK Government policy which sees the tax free personal allowance increase to £10,000 in 2014-15 – and that means that from overnight on Sunday an extra 19,000 Scots will no longer pay any income tax.
Scottish Secretary Alistair Carmichael said: “I am extremely proud to be part of a Government that has ensured that every hard working Scot will not pay any income tax on everything they earn up to £10,000. This is a key measure in our long term economic plan and one which every single Scot will be able to see and benefit from in their pay packet this month.
“Scotland is doing well because it’s part of the UK. We are benefiting from one of the fastest growing economies in the world which is creating jobs and ensuring certainty and security for families and individuals across the country.”
Over one million women in Scotland will directly benefit from this increase which comes as Scottish female employment levels reach near record highs.
This year’s Budget also confirmed that the personal allowance will increase again to £10,500 from next year helping even more Scottish families.
Across the UK, Government measures are cutting tax for over 26 million people. This includes taking over three million out of paying any income tax at all – 200,000 of these from this week.
The Sunday 6 April changes also mean that:
- Someone working full-time on the October 2014 minimum wage (£6.50/h at 35hrs a week) will pay over 50 per cent less income tax in 2014-15 than a than someone on the national minimum wage in 2010.
- Someone working for just under 30 hours a week on the October 2014 minimum wage will not pay any income tax at all.
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