Scottish tax: Certainty for the year ahead

However, the Scottish National Party (SNP) runs a minority government in Scotland and as such, it was always going to be essential that a consensus was reached with other parties to get the budget passed through to the all-important Scottish rate resolution on February 21 2018.

This will allow UK payroll and software professionals to know the rates that will apply to non-savings and non-dividend taxable income (NSND) for Scottish taxpayers.

In a statement from the Scottish Parliament, on January 31 2018, Mackay announced a consensus agreement with the Scottish Greens. Importantly, this agreement lasts through all stages of the Scottish budget scrutiny process, right up the stage three which passes the all-important resolution.

So, assuming that nothing goes wrong in the meantime, we seem to know for sure the rates and thresholds that will apply to NSND taxable income for Scottish taxpayers for 2018/19.

Including the value of the UK-wide personal allowance of £11,850 for 2018/19, this gives the following, with a comparison to 2017/18:

I stress again that we seem to have clarity, but nothing is absolutely final until the Scottish rate resolution is passed on February 21 2018.