UK DEFENCE Secretary Gavin Williamson has announced a review of how the Scottish Government’s tax changes will affect the armed forces in the wake of Tory claims that they will penalise personnel stationed in Scotland.
The review has been launched despite the results of an investigation that found the clams were mostly false.
The Tories claim that around 8000 members of the armed forces in Scotland will be badly affected by the changes.
“The SNP’s tax hike unfairly hits 70 per cent of our brave and loyal service personnel based in Scotland, leaving thousands of them out of pocket. This is wrong,” said Williamson.
“I am working to ensure that those who are affected do not feel they are being punished by serving in Scotland.
“We are urgently reviewing how we can counter this unjustified raid on the pay packets of our armed forces.”
However an investigation by the Ferret and the Daily Record last week concluded the Tory claims were mostly false.
The inquiry found that the Tories were wrong to claim that military personnel in Scotland earning over £24,000 would pay higher bills.
Research from the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (SPICe) found that while the tax rate goes up from 20 per cent to 21 per cent for those earning over £24,000, the actual amount payable does not due to the increase in the personal allowance and the new Scottish lower rate of 19 per cent for lower earners.
According to the SPICe calculations, those earning up to £33,000 will pay less in tax than they will in the current year.
When compared to the rest of the UK, those earning up to £28,460 will not face a higher tax bill, despite being in the higher 21 per cent tax bracket.
The Institute of Chartered Accountants also crunched the numbers on the new tax bands. They found that at £24,000, Scots would be £20 better off that their English counterparts, and would face the same bill at £26,000.
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