Scottish Income Tax HMRC annual report 2020
Published 29 September 2020
Applies to Scotland
© Crown copyright 2020
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Purpose
The Scotland Act 2012 enabled the Scottish Parliament to set a Scottish rate of income tax to apply to the non-savings and non-dividend income of Scottish taxpayers.
This power was exercised for the first and only time in February 2016 setting a rate of 10% for the 2016 to 2017 tax year. The power to set a Scottish rate was superseded by the Scotland Act 2016, which provides the Scottish Parliament with further Scottish income tax powers – enabling the setting of income tax rates and thresholds that apply to the non-savings and non-dividend income of Scottish taxpayers.
The tables below shows how this further power has been exercised in 2019 to 2020, including the current England and Northern Ireland rates as a comparison.
Scottish income tax rates in 2019 to 2020 and 2019 to 2020 England and Northern Ireland rates:
Scottish rates 2019 to 2020
| Rates | Bands |
|---|---|
| 19% | £12,500 - £14,549 |
| 20% | £14,550 - £24,944 |
| 21% | £24,945 - £43,430 |
| 41% | £43,431 - £150,000 |
| 46% | £150,001+ |
England and Northern Ireland rates 2019 to 2020
| Rates | Bands |
|---|---|
| 20% | £12,501 - £49,999 |
| 40% | £50,000 - £150,000 |
| 45% | £150,001+ |
HMRC administers Scottish Income Tax through existing Pay As You Earn (PAYE) and Self Assessment processes, including those for income tax compliance and communications. This ensures the correct amount of tax is collected.
In the vast majority of cases Scottish taxpayers will notice no difference in how HMRC interacts with them.
To ensure consistent quality of service to Scottish taxpayers, and to allow both HMRC and the Scottish Government to meet their respective Scottish Income Tax responsibilities, a Service Level Agreement (SLA) was agreed, effective from 6 April 2017, and is reviewed on an annual basis.
The SLA sets out requirements and performance measures for the operation of Scottish Income Tax. One of the key requirements is for HMRC to report annually on its delivery of the agreed services.
This report sets out information about HMRC’s administration of Scottish Income Tax for 2019 to 2020, covering:
- compliance activity (including address assurance),
- the collection of and accounting for Scottish income tax revenues
- customer service and support
- data for Scottish income tax rate setting and forecasting
- data for Scottish Government cash management
- the costs of delivering Scottish income tax, and recharging of HMRC costs
1. Identification and assurance
The SLA requires HMRC to:
- identify and maintain an accurate and robust record of the Scottish taxpayer population
Scottish taxpayer identification
HMRC has a robust approach in place to ensure the ongoing identification of Scottish taxpayers, including communications with taxpayers and ongoing checks for address assurance.
Scottish taxpayer identification is also supported by compliance activity. The exact nature of the compliance activity HMRC undertakes for any given year will depend on income tax decisions made by the UK and Scottish Parliaments.
In broad terms, the greater the divergence between the 2 regimes, the greater the risk of a non-compliant behavioural response by customers that requires HMRC compliance activity to address. The assessment of the risk of non-compliant behaviour and compliance activity is summarised in section 2.
Communications overview
HMRC has continued to use the extensive existing channels of communications it has with taxpayers and employers to reinforce key Scottish Income Tax messages. Communications to customers have been through channels including social media, the Personal Tax Account, and the Annual Tax Summaries. These communications have focused on the need for customers to update their address details with HMRC when they move.
HMRC’s communications with employers have been through channels including the Employer Bulletin, Agent Update, Customer Compliance Managers’ engagement with large businesses and public bodies, forums for employers, payroll managers and agents, GOV.UK, and social media.
These communications have focused on reminding employers of the importance of them correctly applying the ‘S’ codes issued to them by HMRC.
HMRC will also continue to work with the Scottish Government on its communications approach.
Identification and assurance activity undertaken in 2019 to 2020
Comparison of HMRC address data with third party address data
As part of the preparations for the commencement of the Scottish rate of income tax in 2016, HMRC undertook a data clash exercise which looked to match HMRC address records with third party data, such as the electoral roll, data held by credit reference agencies, and employer records.
This enabled HMRC to test whether its identification of Scottish taxpayers was corroborated by other address records. The results of this exercise provided evidence to suggest that HMRC’s identification of Scottish taxpayers was correct in 98 to 99% of cases.
This exercise was repeated in 2017 to 2018 and 2019 to 2020. This assurance exercise provided evidence to support the view that HMRC’s identification of Scottish taxpayers is correct in 98 to 99% of cases.
The remaining 1 to 2% are records that could not be corroborated by the comparison with third party data, but these are not necessarily incorrect. There is no evidence to suggest that this data is more likely to be correct than HMRC’s.
HMRC will continue to assure the accuracy of its identification of the Scottish taxpayer population.
Quality Management checks on postcode data
HMRC has continued to carry out regular checks to support its identification of Scottish taxpayers. Postcodes and the properties within them occasionally change to reflect new properties being built and subdivision of existing properties. HMRC receives quarterly postcode updates from the Office of National Statistics and updates its processes for flagging Scottish residency to ensure ongoing accuracy of HMRC’s record of postcodes and their residency statuses.
HMRC also conducted a scan to ensure it holds accurate postcode information. This operates in 2 parts:
- Identification of taxpayer records with a Scottish postcode prefix but where the postcode is not recorded on HMRC’s list of live and deleted Scottish postcodes
- Identification of taxpayer records with a blank postcode but which has a key word in the body of the address that indicates it is a Scottish postcode, for example Aberdeen.
Records are subsequently updated to ensure that they have the correct postcode and residency status.
Ensuring accuracy of ‘S’ codes for Scottish parliamentarians
All Scottish parliamentarians are automatically Scottish taxpayers, regardless of their residence, by virtue of Section 80D(4) of Scotland Act, and are identified on HMRC systems accordingly.
HMRC introduced an additional assurance programme for Scottish parliamentarians in the 2019 to 2020 tax year. Parliamentarians’ records were reviewed at regular intervals throughout the tax year to provide extra assurance that all Scottish parliamentarians’ Scottish taxpayer status is accurately reflected on HMRC systems.
2. Compliance
The SLA requires HMRC to:
- Apply risk based compliance activity to the collection of Scottish Income Tax in the same way as is applied to the collection of income tax from taxpayers in the rest of the UK
Compliance strategy overview
Compliance checks into tax affairs of Scottish taxpayers
HMRC assesses compliance risks and undertakes checks into the tax affairs of UK taxpayers, including Scottish taxpayers.
HMRC applies risk-based compliance activity to the collection of Scottish Income Tax in the same way as is applied to the collection of income tax from taxpayers in the rest of the UK. This includes conducting enquiries into Scottish Self Assessment taxpayers. The Scottish Government is not recharged for this activity.
Due to the interaction of PAYE, Self Assessment and tax legislation, HMRC looks at risks over multiple years in order to take the most appropriate compliance action.
The changes to Scottish Income Tax rates in 2019 to 2020 were limited to the movement of thresholds. There was further divergence around the higher rate threshold; the threshold did not increase in Scotland while it rose to £50,000 in the rest of the UK. Again, although the differential in tax paid between customers in Scotland and the rest of the UK increased, the actual tax paid by Scottish Taxpayers individually reduced due to the increase in Personal Allowance.
The changes introduced in the Scottish budget for 2020 to 2021 compared to the budget changes for England, Northern Ireland and Wales (due to no change in Welsh Rates of Income Tax) meant that the divergence closed very slightly over 2019 to 2020. In effect, however, the difference is small enough to make no difference to risk.
Overall, HMRC currently assesses the increased risk of a non-compliant behavioural response from customers as a result of the differences between rates and thresholds in Scotland and the rest of the UK to be low.
Address assurance
For all individuals, whether in Self Assessment or PAYE, HMRC continues to monitor cross-border migration trends through comparison of customer base, analysis of returns and changes to tax accounts to identify possible evidence of customer behavioural response and also validate the accuracy of reported moves and the completeness of its address data. HMRC will also continue communications that reinforce the need for customers to update address details with HMRC when they move.
Knowledge building
Using settled enquiries into Scottish taxpayers HMRC will seek to identify any behavioural issues that impact on Scottish Income Tax. The Taxes Act 1970 governs HMRC’s ability to enquire into Self-Assessment returns. That gives a window for enquiries that, with some exceptions, runs from the deadline for submitting returns for 12 months.
This means that the enquiries opened so far since the introduction of Scottish Income Tax have been into years where the divergence was limited to changes in the Higher Rate Threshold (2017 to 2018) or no difference (2016 to 2017). Insight from those returns is limited by the impact of that risk.
Wealthy Individuals
HMRC has continued to use the existing Customer Compliance Manager (CCM) model and other interactions with wealthy customers to raise awareness, educate customers of their Scottish Income Tax obligations and assess compliance risk related to misrepresentation of Scottish taxpayer status or understatement of income liable to Scottish Income Tax. A specific Scottish Income Tax lead within HMRC’s Wealthy Taxpayer Unit oversees activity in relation these customers.
Employer compliance/assurance
HMRC is keen to ensure that the Scottish ‘S code’ is being accurately and correctly applied in the PAYE regime. HMRC has therefore carried out scans to test employer application of ‘S codes’ issued by HMRC. Any employer not applying the correct code is sent a reminder and HMRC monitors the response to these reminders to identify employers that HMRC may need to engage further with. The initial error rate of 2.0% in June 2019 reduced to 1.2% in December 2019.
Timing
In addition to the scans carried out in-year, the end of year PAYE reconciliation programme checks the tax deducted against the tax due for all customers. Any underpayments are collected from the customer, usually through an adjustment to the subsequent year’s PAYE code, and any overpayments are refunded.
Self-employed customers are on an annual return cycle and Self Assessment returns for 2018 to 2019 tax year were not required to be submitted until January 2020. Compliance checks on 2018 to 2019 returns would therefore commence in 2020, although enquiries may be opened earlier for returns submitted before the deadline.
The majority of enquiries into 2018 to 2019 returns would not, however, begin immediately after the submission of returns as risk assessing work must take place first.
3. Collecting and accounting for Scottish Income Tax
The SLA requires HMRC to:
- collect and account for Scottish income tax revenues at Scottish income Tax rates
HMRC collects Scottish Income Tax through the PAYE and Self Assessment systems. It pays Scottish Income Tax revenues into the UK Consolidated Fund and these revenues are subsequently transferred to the Scottish Government and the Scottish Government’s resource block grant is reduced accordingly, reflecting its revenue-raising powers.
HMRC reports the amount of Scottish Income Tax collected in its Annual Report and Accounts and provides an extract of its accounts to the Scottish Parliament each year. In September 2020 HMRC also released a statistical publication, Scottish Income Tax Outturn Statistics, which included the information shown in the HMRC Accounts and further breakdowns of Scottish Income Tax and equivalent information for taxpayers in the rest of the UK. The outturn is calculated following the submission deadline for Self Assessment returns, meaning there is a delay between the end of the tax year and the publication of the outturn for that year. The 2019 to 2020 outturn will not be published until 2021.
Scottish Income Tax outturn 2018 to 2019
For 2018 to 2019, the amount of income tax attributable to the Scottish Government budget is £11.556 billion. The table below shows the revenue from income tax on non-savings/non-dividend (NSND) income for non-Scottish taxpayers (rest of the UK or rUK taxpayers) in 2018 to 2019. The table also shows the components of the rUK figure. The rUK figure does not include any tax on NSND income from Scottish taxpayers, as it is all is Scottish Income Tax.
2018 to 2019 Income Tax Revenue from Non-Saving, Non-Dividend (NSND) Income of Scottish and non-Scottish Taxpayers[1]
| rUK NSND (£bn) | Scottish NSND (£bn) | |
|---|---|---|
| Self Assessment Established Liability[2] | 89.095 4.954 | |
| PAYE Established Liability | 69.774 6.587 | |
| Estimated further Liability | 6.237 0.366 | |
| Less: Adjustment for uncollectable amounts | (1.321) (0.089) | |
| Reliefs[3] | ||
| Relief at Source (RAS) | (1.790) | (0.156) |
| Gift Aid | (1.245) | (0.105) |
| Final Revenue for the tax year 2018-19 | 160.750 | 11.556 |
- [1] Based on Scottish powers from Scotland Act 2016
- [2] Includes an element of PAYE for Self Assessment customers
- [3] These reliefs are those not allocated to individual taxpayer accounts
The methodology for calculating the 2018 to 2019 Scottish Income Tax outturn is the same as that used last year to calculate the 2017 to 2018 outturn, but reflects the tax regime changes between years, including the introduction of the new bands. This methodology has been agreed and signed off by HMRC and the Scottish Government and has been audited by the National Audit Office (NAO).
The time lag in confirming the actual amount Scottish Income Tax outturn for 2018 to 2019 is due to the PAYE and Self Assessment processes. To administer PAYE for taxpayers, HMRC undertakes an end-of-year-reconciliation to assess whether individuals have paid too much or too little tax in any given tax year. Similarly, taxpayers are not required to submit Self Assessment returns to HMRC until 10 months after the end of the tax year to which they relate.
HMRC has worked closely with colleagues in the Scottish Government to develop an agreed work plan. This details the analysis and data that HMRC will provide to the Scottish Government to support them in their analytical work. Officials meet regularly to ensure new priorities are discussed and factored in against existing commitments. As part of this, both parties have agreed what new information would be useful to help provide more understanding of the Scottish Income Tax outturn. HMRC has also produced and shared other information to support the Scottish Fiscal Commission’s forecasting and the calculation for the block grant adjustment.
4. Data for Scottish Income Tax rate setting and forecasting
The SLA requires HMRC to:
- Provide the Scottish Government with sufficient relevant and timely information and data for rate-setting and forecasting for Scottish Income Tax
HMRC provides the Scottish Government with relevant data for Scottish Income Tax, alongside the Scottish Fiscal Commission. At a UK level, these tasks are fulfilled using the Survey of Personal Incomes (SPI).
The SPI is compiled to provide a quantified evidence base from which to cost proposed changes to tax rates, personal allowances and other tax reliefs for Treasury Ministers. It is used to inform policy decisions within HMRC and HM Treasury, as well as for tax modelling and forecasting purposes. It is also used to provide summary information for the National Accounts that are prepared by the Office for National Statistics and to provide information to Members of Parliament, other government departments, companies, other organisations and individuals.
The SPI is based on information held by HMRC on individuals who could be liable to UK tax. It is carried out annually by HMRC and covers income assessable to tax for each tax year. Not all of the individuals are taxpayers because the operation of personal reliefs and allowances may remove them from liability. Where income exceeds the threshold for operation of PAYE, the survey provides the most comprehensive and accurate official source of data on personal incomes.
HMRC provides the Scottish Government with an annually updated copy of the SPI data set. This year’s set was provided, on request, in April 2020 to both the Scottish Government and Scottish Fiscal Commission to undertake their policy costing and receipts forecasting duties. This copy was identical to that used, for similar purposes, at a UK level, with the exception of some minor aggregation of taxpayer data at the highest income levels to avoid potential breaches of taxpayer confidentiality. HMRC continues to work with the Scottish Government and Scottish Fiscal Commission to ensure the information provided meets their requirements and supports forecasting and rate setting for Scotland. This SPI data set will subsequently be published to enable researchers and academics to use it for statistical purposes.
In addition to this, HMRC also publishes a devolved income tax statistical publication. The publication includes:
- the Scottish Income Tax outturn for 2018 to 2019, in line with the Trust Statement
- the rest of the United Kingdom non-savings, non-dividends outturn equivalent for 2018 to 2019, by component
- the number of Scottish Income Tax and rest of the United Kingdom non-savings, non-dividends taxpayers by tax band
- the amount of Scottish Income Tax and rest of the United Kingdom non savings, non-dividend liability split by collection method (PAYE or Self Assessment)
- the monthly Real Time Information (RTI) receipts series for Scottish and non Scottish taxpayers for 2016 to 2017, 2017 to 2018, 2018 to 2019 and 2019 to 2020
HMRC intends to continue to publish this statistical publication annually alongside the Annual Report and Accounts. This will help inform the Scottish Government and Scottish Fiscal Commission with their analysis, as well as researchers and academics.
5. Data for Scottish Government cash management
The SLA requires HMRC to:
- provide Scottish Government with sufficient relevant and timely information and data to discharge its duties in respect of cash management due to any change between forecast and collected amounts of Scottish Income Tax
Since 2017 to 2018, when the Scottish Parliament took on further income tax powers, there has been a reduction in Scotland’s resource block grant. This reduction is equal to the total non-savings/non-dividend income tax generated in Scotland in 2016 to 2017, uplifted using the mechanism set out in the fiscal framework, which was agreed between the UK and Scottish Governments in February 2017.
Each year, both the tax receipts generated and the block grant deduction will initially be based on a forecast and then reconciled to actual receipts collected which will become known around 15 months after the end of the financial year in question.
A key requirement of the SLA is therefore for HMRC to provide the Scottish Government with sufficient data to discharge its duties in respect of cash management linked to any change between forecast and collected amounts of Scottish Income Tax. To fulfil this requirement HMRC has agreed with the Scottish Government and Scottish Fiscal Commission to provide Scottish Income Tax figures from the Real Time Information (RTI) data received from employers. This is the best indication of trends in income tax liabilities available in real time, but is not a complete picture of income tax liabilities because it excludes tax paid through Self Assessment and some adjustments made to PAYE liabilities after the end of the tax year. This data was provided by HMRC to the Scottish Government on a monthly basis.
The Scottish Income Tax statistical publication released in September 2020 included the RTI information which has previously been shared with the Scottish Government for the tax years since 2016 to 2017.
6. Customer service and support
The SLA requires HMRC to:
- apply the same level of customer service, support and transparency to Scottish Income Tax taxpayers as is applied to income taxpayers in the rest of the UK
HMRC administers Scottish Income Tax as part of the UK income tax system. In the vast majority of circumstances Scottish taxpayers will therefore notice no difference in the manner in which HMRC interacts with them. This approach also ensures that the correct amount of tax is collected.
Scottish Income Tax is collected through existing PAYE and Self Assessment processes, which have been adapted to reflect Scottish Income Tax rates and thresholds. Scottish taxpayers are able to use HMRC’s usual guidance and customer contact channels for advice and information.
In the majority of areas customer service provided to Scottish taxpayers will therefore be included and reported within HMRC’s UK-wide customer service reporting.
The customer service and support for Scottish taxpayers, agents and employers that HMRC has incorporated into its existing processes includes the following:
- providing all Scottish taxpayers and their employers with Scottish tax codes (reflecting the changed higher rate threshold decided on by the Scottish Parliament) prior to the start of the tax year
- annual Tax Summaries issued to all Scottish Income Tax taxpayers
- updating online calculators prior to the start of the tax year with the Scottish Income Tax rates/thresholds set by the Scottish Parliament to ensure they remain accurate for Scottish taxpayers (HMRC also conducted a recoding exercise due to the timing of the Scottish Rate Resolution, ensuring that customers had the correct tax codes for 2020 to 2021)
- guidance for payroll software providers on how to correctly incorporate Scottish rates/thresholds into their PAYE products for employers
- guidance on how Scottish taxpayer status is decided, and what to do if customers feel HMRC has wrongly identified their status
- encouraging customers to update their personal details, focusing on the use of Personal Tax Account
- issuing paper tax tables to digitally exempt employers prior to the start of the tax year reflecting Scottish rates and thresholds
While most interactions Scottish customers have with HMRC are via existing processes, and the customer service therefore reported within UK figures, some aspects of customer service are specific to Scottish Income Tax, for example guidance on Scottish taxpayer status and ability to discuss with HMRC if you disagree with the Scottish residency status you’ve been given.
It is important that HMRC can demonstrate that its customer service in these areas matches what it provides across the UK as a whole. The SLA between HMRC and the Scottish Government therefore commits HMRC to collect and report on key, Scottish Income Tax specific, customer contact metrics. The key metrics for 2019 to 2020 are outlined in Annexe A to this report.
7. Recharging of HMRC costs
The SLA requires HMRC to:
- provide the Scottish Government with sufficient relevant and timely information for assurance purposes and to budget effectively for any net additional administrative costs to be recharged to the Scottish Government
Under the Fiscal Framework Agreement between the UK and Scottish Governments, the Scottish Government will reimburse HMRC for net additional costs wholly and necessarily incurred as a result of the implementation and administration of Scottish Income Tax powers.
HMRC has made changes to its systems and processes to ensure the effective and efficient collection and management of Scottish Income Tax. Associated with these changes are new and ongoing administrative costs to operate Scottish Income Tax processes and systems.
HMRC and the Scottish Government have jointly agreed a framework that sets out the principles that HMRC will apply when identifying the Scottish Income Tax administrative costs that will be recharged to the Scottish Government.
The Framework document is kept up to date to reflect all known and anticipated administrative costs and should be read in conjunction with the Memorandum of Understanding and SLA (to which it is annexed) between HMRC and the Scottish Government.
Costs of administering Scottish Income Tax
Costs were first incurred for 2012 to 2013, however this table focuses on more recent costs.
| 2013-14 (£m) | 2014-15 (£m) | 2015-16 (£m) | 2016-17 (£m) | 2017-18 (£m) | 2018-19 (£m) | 2019-20 (£m) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Implementation costs | 0.78 | 1.97 | 8.13 | 6.08 | 4.48 | 2.04 | 0.56 |
| Operating costs | N/A | N/A | N/A | 0.17 | 0.35 | 0.78 | 0.89 |
| Total cost of Scottish income tax invoiced in financial year[1] | 0.79 | 1.74 | 8.36 | 6.25 | 4.83 | 2.82 | 1.45 |
- [1] Figures shown may not be an exact sum of implementation and operating costs due to invoicing schedules.
Annexe A – annual business intelligence report 2019 to 2020
Customer contact - telephone
HMRC has a Scottish income tax telephone route within the HMRC Personal Tax helpline. This gives customers generic pre-recorded Scottish income tax messages prior to speaking to an HMRC Customer Adviser. These figures do not represent all calls by Scottish taxpayers to HMRC.
| Month | Total calls | Answered | Average queue of answered | Abandoned in queue | Average wait before abandoned | Overall SIT calls % handled |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apr-19 | 99 | 65 | 13:03 | 20 | 06:46 | 66% |
| May-19 | 59 | 41 | 12:21 | 13 | 07:13 | 69% |
| Jun-19 | 42 | 35 | 07:32 | 7 | 06:10 | 83% |
| Jul-19 | 64 | 51 | 07:38 | 8 | 04:38 | 80% |
| Aug-19 | 29 | 26 | 07:41 | 3 | 07:45 | 90% |
| Sep-19 | 34 | 31 | 06:04 | 3 | 06:12 | 91% |
| Oct-19 | 33 | 27 | 07:17 | 6 | 05:57 | 82% |
| Nov-19 | 39 | 32 | 05:46 | 5 | 05:46 | 82% |
| Dec-19 | 19 | 17 | 07:55 | 2 | 08:13 | 89% |
| Jan-20 | 41 | 33 | 08:13 | 5 | 06:20 | 80% |
| Feb-20 | 46 | 37 | 09:59 | 6 | 07:26 | 80% |
| Mar-20 | 35 | 27 | 04:38 | 7 | 07:38 | 77% |
Complaints
HMRC track all Scottish income tax customer complaints to ensure they are processed within the HMRC customer service targets. These figures do not represent all customer complaints received from Scottish taxpayers.
| Month | Complaints received | > Tier 1 complaint | Upheld | Partially upheld | Not upheld | Less than 15 days | More than 15 days | 2019-20 15 day target (80%) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apr-19 | 10 | 0 | 7 | 1 | 2 | 10 | 0 | 100% |
| May-19 | 6 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 6 | 0 | 100% |
| Jun-19 | 5 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 100% |
| Jul-19 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 100% |
| Aug-19 | 6 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 90.30% |
| Sep-19 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 90.60% |
| Oct-19 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 84.60% |
| Nov-19 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 84.60% |
| Dec-19 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 85.70% |
| Jan-20 | 4 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 86.70% |
| Feb-20 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 87.20% |
| Mar-20 | 6 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 5 | 0 | 88.50% |
Details of all customer contact are included in the HMRC Annual Report and Accounts.
Web hits
HMRC have a number of Scottish income tax related webpages that are hosted on GOV.UK. Hits to these pages are monitored.
| Month | Income Tax in Scotland [1] | Work out if you’ll pay Scottish Income Tax [2] | Scottish Taxpayer Technical Guidance (HMRC internal manual) [3] | Tell HMRC about a change to your personal details [4] |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apr-19 | 43,963 | 961 | 167 | 180,209 |
| May-19 | 35,015 | 867 | 121 | 179,413 |
| Jun-19 | 31,747 | 824 | 176 | 149,142 |
| Jul-19 | 31,886 | 1018 | 207 | 169,000 |
| Aug-19 | 32,027 | 920 | 175 | 165,589 |
| Sep-19 | 29,802 | 787 | 165 | 161,188 |
| Oct-19 | 32,751 | 805 | 170 | 161,645 |
| Nov-19 | 38,028 | 825 | 165 | 142,601 |
| Dec-19 | 26,227 | 561 | 124 | 93,810 |
| Jan-20 | 21,999 | 661 | 182 | 109,261 |
| Feb-20 | 22,793 | 495 | 254 | 101,372 |
| Mar-20 | 21,244 | 410 | 77 | 113,309 |
- [1] https://www.gov.uk/scottish-income-tax
- [2] https://www.gov.uk/guidance/work-out-if-youll-pay-the-scottish-rate-of-income-tax
- [3] https://www.gov.uk/hmrc-internal-manuals/scottish-taxpayer-technical-guidance
- [4] https://www.gov.uk/tell-hmrc-change-of-details
Annexe B - Scottish Income Tax rates
The tables below shows the Scottish Income Tax rates from 2017 to 2018, to 2019 to 2020, and a comparison with 2019 to 2020 England and Northern Ireland rates.
Scottish Income Tax rates 2017 to 2018
| Rates | Bands |
|---|---|
| 20% | £11,501 - £43,000 |
| 40% | £43,001 - £150,000 |
| 45% | £150,001+ |
Scottish Income Tax rates 2018 to 2019
| Rates | Bands |
|---|---|
| 19% | £11,850 - £13,850 |
| 20% | £13,851 - £24,000 |
| 21% | £24,001 - £43,430 |
| 41% | £43,431 - £150,000 |
| 46% | £150,001+ |
Scottish Income Tax rates 2019 to 2020
| Rates | Bands |
|---|---|
| 19% | £12,500 - £14,549 |
| 20% | £14,550 - £24,944 |
| 21% | £24,945 - £43,430 |
| 41% | £43,431 - £150,000 |
| 46% | £150,001+ |
England and Northern Ireland Income Tax rates 2019 to 2020
| Rates | Bands |
|---|---|
| 20% | £12,501 - £49,999 |
| 40% | £50,000 - £150,000 |
| 45% | £150,001+ |