Scottish Income Tax Outturn Statistics — 2023 to 2024
Published 10 July 2025
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1. Overview
The aim of these Official Statistics is to provide users with information of interest in relation to the Scottish Income Tax (SIT) Outturn. They present net non-savings non-dividends (NSND) Income Tax for Scottish taxpayers.
This publication also shows:
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how many Scottish taxpayers are liable at each rate of tax
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an Outturn of Scottish Income Tax revenue at each rate of tax
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an estimated breakdown of the NSND Income Tax paid by Scottish taxpayers split between payments collected via Pay as You Earn (PAYE) and payments collected via Self Assessment (SA)
Additionally, the statistical tables released alongside this bulletin also provide equivalent information for the rest of the UK (rUK) taxpayers on the same basis so comparisons can be made. References to numbered tables throughout this bulletin refer to statistical tables released alongside this bulletin. References to tables labelled with letters pertain to the tables present within the bulletin.
Calculations in this bulletin (for example, on the average tax paid by taxpayers) are based on unrounded numbers so may not match figures in the statistical release.
Throughout this publication, individual figures have been rounded independently, so the sum of component items may not necessarily add to the totals shown.
2. Main findings
2.1 Note on the definition of ‘rUK’
From 2019 to 2020, a proportion of Income Tax paid by taxpayers living in Wales has been transferred to the Welsh Government through the introduction of the Welsh Rates of Income Tax (WRIT). These are controlled by the Welsh Government (WG). HMRC publishes separate statistics on Welsh Income Tax.
Prior to 2020 to 2021, indexing of the Scottish Block Grant was based upon growth of NSND Income Tax in England, Northern Ireland and Wales (EWNI). However, with the introduction of WRIT the indexing of the Scottish Block Grant will now be determined by the NSND Income Tax Outturn for England and Northern Ireland (ENI) only. Despite the remainder of WRIT being allocated to rUK it is not used to calculate the Block Grant Adjustment for Scotland.
From the 2020 to 2021 reconciliation onwards, the rUK (ENI) outturn will be used by HM Treasury to calculate and agree with the Scottish Government (SG) the BGA reconciliation.
All rUK figures in this bulletin include England and Northern Ireland outturn only.
2.2 Scottish Income Tax 2023 to 2024
The main findings of these statistics are:
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the total amount of NSND Income Tax generated by Scottish taxpayers in the 2023 to 2024 tax year was £17.1 billion – an increase of 12.7% compared to 2022 to 2023
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this represents an average increase in NSND Income Tax of £364 per Scottish taxpayer
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the total amount of NSND Income Tax generated by rUK taxpayers in the 2023 to 2024 tax year was £227.1 billion – an increase of 10.1% compared to 2022 to 2023
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this represents an average increase in NSND Income Tax of £268 per rUK taxpayer
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the total number of Scottish taxpayers in the 2023 to 2024 tax year was 2,923,000 – an increase of 5.7% compared to 2022 to 2023
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the total number of rUK taxpayers in the 2022 to 2023 tax year was 31,222,800 – an increase of 6.0% compared to 2022 to 2023
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the Scottish share of UK NSND Income Tax in the 2023 to 2024 tax year was 6.8% - an increase of 0.1 percentage points (ppts) compared to 2022 to 2023
3. Background
3.1 Definitions of ‘non-savings non-dividends’
The statistics in Tables 1 to 3 provide information detailing Income Tax due on NSND income. NSND income includes earnings from employment, pensions, profits from self-employed sources and property.
All Income Tax due on NSND income is devolved to Scotland. These tables provide a comparison of how NSND Income Tax for Scottish taxpayers compares to that of rUK taxpayers.
Tax on NSND income in these tables is measured as the Income Tax liability expected to be collected by HMRC. There is also an adjustment to reflect reliefs which are not allocated to individual taxpayer accounts.
Taxpayers in these tables are defined as individuals who have some net NSND Income Tax liability due after reliefs have been deducted from their Income Tax bill.
In Table 2, taxpayers have been assigned to a marginal tax rate (the Income Tax band that a taxpayer would pay their next pound of Income Tax into) based solely on their NSND Income Tax, however, it is possible that they have paid tax at a higher rate on their savings/dividend income.
3.2 Established liabilities and where tax is paid
Employers and pension providers must normally operate PAYE as part of their payroll. PAYE is HMRC’s system to collect Income Tax and National Insurance (NI) from employments and is largely paid in the same year as the taxable activity.
When an employer pays their employees through payroll, they also need to make tax and National Insurance deductions for PAYE. Employers are then obliged to report the amount of these payments and deductions to HMRC as well as paying the tax and National Insurance deducted to HMRC.
An individual is required to file a Self Assessment (SA) return if they meet certain criteria. This is required even for individuals who also pay employment income into the PAYE system, if a requirement for filing in Self Assessment is met. Self Assessment returns are generally submitted in the year after the taxable activity has taken place, and the Self Assessment return filing deadline is typically 9 months after the tax year has ended.
For the outturn calculation, an individual who files a Self Assessment return will have all their Income Tax liability established (reconciled) in Self Assessment when they submit their return, even if they have had some tax deducted through PAYE.
An individual who is not required to file in Self Assessment will have their liability established in PAYE when their tax information is reconciled by the National Insurance and PAYE Service (NPS).
Table 3 shows the system that established NSND Income Tax liabilities are paid through; that is ‘collected at source’ (PAYE) or paid through Self Assessment. This split in Table 3 is different to the split of established liabilities in Table 1, which is based on the system which the individuals’ liabilities are reconciled in.
For example, an individual receiving income from an employment and additional sources may have their employment Income Tax deducted from their pay by their employer, whilst also paying Income Tax for additional income (for example, property income) by filing an Self Assessment return.
In this case, all Income Tax for this taxpayer is recorded in the Self Assessment Established component of the outturn as this is where the record will be reconciled. However, amounts paid will be split between PAYE and Self Assessment accordingly, as is reflected in Table 3.
4. Scottish NSND Income Tax outturn and rUK comparison
4.1 Outturn components
Table 1 of the statistical release shows how each component of the outturn is combined to calculate the figure for the total NSND Income Tax for Scottish taxpayers. We also see how this compares to rUK. Please see section 7 for further information on the outturn components.
Overall, SIT grew faster than rUK Income Tax (12.7% compared to 10.1%). SIT had stronger growth in PAYE Established Liabilities (22.6%) compared to Self Assessment Established Liabilities (0.9%).
Similar to the 2022 to 2023 tax year, the large growth in NSND Income Tax is due to higher nominal earnings growth compared to previous tax years. This is likely due to a combination of continued economic recovery following the pandemic and tight labour market conditions during a period of relatively high inflation.
The largest components of the outturn are Self Assessment Established Liability and PAYE Established Liability. More NSND Income Tax liability is established through PAYE in Scotland whilst more is established through Self Assessment for rUK. Table A below shows 53.9% of rUK liabilities are reconciled in the Self Assessment Established component, whilst the same figure for SIT is 38.6%.
For a visual representation of the split of the components of Scottish NSND Income Tax please refer to Figure 1. Alternatively, the same figures are also available in written form in Table A. For rUK, the split of the same components is available to view in Figure 2, with the written form in Table B.
Figure 1: Breakdown of NSND Income Tax for Scottish taxpayers by component, 2022 to 2023 and 2023 to 2024
Table A: Breakdown of NSND Income Tax for Scottish taxpayers by component, 2022 to 2023 and 2023 to 2024
| 2022 to 2023 Scottish NSND Income Tax | 2023 to 2024 Scottish NSND Income Tax | |
|---|---|---|
| Self Assessment Established Liability | £6,540 million | £6,598 million |
| PAYE Established Liability | £8,609 million | £10,558 million |
| Estimated further Liability | £414 million | £376 million |
| Adjustment for uncollectable amounts | -£83 million | -£91 million |
| Relief at Source (RAS) | -£190 million | -£223 million |
| Gift Aid | -£121 million | -£126 million |
| Total | £15,169 million | £17,093 million |
Figure 2: Breakdown of NSND Income Tax for rUK taxpayers by component, 2022 to 2023 and 2023 to 2024
Table B: Breakdown of NSND Income Tax for rUK taxpayers by component, 2022 to 2023 and 2023 to 2024
| 2022 to 2023 rUK NSND Income Tax | 2023 to 2024 rUK NSND Income Tax | |
|---|---|---|
| Self Assessment Established Liability | £119,871 million | £122,474 million |
| PAYE Established Liability | £84,820 million | £103,855 million |
| Estimated further Liability | £6,607 million | £6,202 million |
| Adjustment for uncollectable amounts | -£1,313 million | -£1,402 million |
| Relief at Source (RAS) | -£2,282 million | -£2,595 million |
| Gift Aid | -£1,370 million | -£1,416 million |
| Total | £206,333 million | £227,119 million |
Although the Self Assessment Established component constitutes the majority of rUK liabilities by reconciliation method, the majority of liabilities in the rUK system are paid at source (through a PAYE scheme). Table 3 of the statistical release shows 87.6% of all rUK liabilities are collected through the PAYE system. For Scotland, the equivalent figure is 89.8% - which is 1.7 ppts greater than the equivalent figure in 2022 to 2023.
The lower proportion of tax collected through Self Assessment in Scotland is partially caused by a significantly higher proportion of rUK taxpayers being required to submit Self Assessment returns compared to SIT taxpayers.
Table C: Established Scottish NSND Income Tax by collection method, 2016 to 2017 through to 2023 to 2024
| 2016 to 2017 Scottish NSND Income Tax | 2017 to 2018 Scottish NSND Income Tax | 2018 to 2019 Scottish NSND Income Tax | 2019 to 2020 Scottish NSND Income Tax | 2020 to 2021 Scottish NSND Income Tax | 2021 to 2022 Scottish NSND Income Tax | 2022 to 2023 Scottish NSND Income Tax | 2023 to 2024 Scottish NSND Income Tax |
| Collected at Source | £9,707 million (88.4%) | £9,827 million (88.0%) | £10,392 million (87.9%) | £10,716 million (88.4%) | £10,701 million (87.5%) | £12,165 million (86.9%) | £13,712 million (88.1%) | £15,741 million (89.8%) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Paid through Self Assessment | £1,271 million (11.6%) | £1,340 million (12.0%) | £1,435 million (12.1%) | £1,401 million (11.6%) | £1,524 million (12.5%) | £1,831 million (13.1%) | £1,850 million (11.9%) | £1,791 million (10.2%) |
| Total NSND Income Tax | £10,655 million | £10,845 million | £11,476 million | £11,750 million | £11,859 million | £13,607 million | £15,169 million | £17,093 million |
4.2 Tax liabilities by band – all NSND Income Tax
Table 2 of the statistical release provides breakdowns of all NSND Income Tax liabilities by tax band and taxpayer types (defined by their highest marginal rate; the Income Tax band that a taxpayer would pay their next pound of Income Tax into).
Fiscal drag (where nominal earnings rise relative to tax thresholds, so that more of taxpayers’ income is taxed, and more of what is taxed falls into higher tax bands) has resulted in increases in the proportion of intermediate, higher, and top rate taxpayers in Scotland.
In particular, there was a large increase in the proportion of taxpayers whose highest marginal rate was the higher rate in Scotland (19.2% in 2023 to 2024 compared to 17.3% in 2022 to 2023). The proportion of higher rate taxpayers is smaller for rUK (partly due to a lower threshold for the higher rate tax band in Scotland), as was the increase in proportion between 2022 to 2023 and 2023 to 2024, from 13.8% to 14.4%.
There has also been an increase in the number of taxpayers of all types except for the basic rate in Scotland. In particular, there were large percentage increases in the number of higher rate taxpayers (an increase of 17.2%) and in top rate taxpayers (an increase of 70.1%).
The substantial increase in the number of top rate taxpayers can be attributed to the reduction of the top rate threshold from £150,000 to £125,140 – a similar percentage change (55.0%) occurred in rUK, where the additional rate threshold also reduced by the same amount.
The year-on-year change in the percentage split of rUK and Scottish taxpayers when grouped by their marginal tax band is illustrated in Figure 3. The same information is available in written form in table D with both sources covering the 2022 to 2023 and 2023 to 2024 tax years.
Figure 4 subsequently shows the proportion of NSND Income Tax paid by each group of taxpayers when classified by their marginal tax band and Income Tax jurisdiction (Scotland or rUK). This illustration is available in written form in table E and covers the same tax years as table D.
For an alternative breakdown of Income Tax, the percentage split of NSND Income Tax when grouped by Income Tax band can be viewed in Figure 5 (or alternatively refer to table F for the written form) across the 2022 to 2023 and 2023 to 2024 tax years.
Figure 3: Share of Scottish and rUK taxpayers by their marginal tax rate, 2022 to 2023 and 2023 to 2024
Table D: Share of Scottish and rUK taxpayers by their marginal tax rate, 2022 to 2023 and 2023 to 2024
| 2022 to 2023 Scottish Taxpayers | 2022 to 2023 rUK Taxpayers | 2023 to 2024 Scottish Taxpayers | 2023 to 2024 rUK Taxpayers | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Starter Rate Taxpayer | 9.0% | N/A | 8.6% | N/A |
| Basic Rate Taxpayer | 37.9% | 84.6% | 34.9% | 83.2% |
| Intermediate Rate Taxpayer | 35.1% | N/A | 36.1% | N/A |
| Higher Rate Taxpayer | 17.3% | 13.8% | 19.2% | 14.4% |
| Additional/Top Rate Taxpayer | 0.8% | 1.6% | 1.2% | 2.3% |
Table E highlights that although a small proportion (20.4%) of Scottish taxpayers were higher or top rate taxpayers, they were liable for 66.2% of NSND Income Tax in Scotland during 2023 to 2024.
Figure 4: Proportion of Scottish and rUK NSND Income Tax paid by each taxpayer type, 2022 to 2023 and 2023 to 2024
Table E: Proportion of Scottish and rUK NSND Income Tax paid by each taxpayer type, 2022 to 2023 and 2023 to 2024
| 2022 to 2023 Scottish Taxpayers | 2022 to 2023 rUK Taxpayers | 2023 to 2024 Scottish Taxpayers | 2023 to 2024 rUK Taxpayers | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Starter Rate Taxpayer | 0.3% | N/A | 0.3% | N/A |
| Basic Rate Taxpayer | 8.9% | 31.5% | 7.6% | 31.0% |
| Intermediate Rate Taxpayer | 26.6% | N/A | 25.8% | N/A |
| Higher Rate Taxpayer | 46.4% | 34.2% | 45.9% | 31.2% |
| Additional/Top Rate Taxpayer | 17.8% | 34.3% | 20.4% | 37.8% |
The proportion of total NSND Income Tax liable at the higher and top rate tax bands increased in Scotland between 2022 to 2023 and 2023 to 2024 (from 43.1% to 44.1%).
Figure 5: Share of Scottish and rUK NSND Income Tax by Income Tax band, 2022 to 2023 and 2023 to 2024
Table F: Share of Scottish and rUK NSND Income Tax by Income Tax band, 2022 to 2023 and 2023 to 2024
| 2022 to 2023 Scottish NSND Income Tax | 2022 to 2023 rUK NSND Income Tax | 2023 to 2024 Scottish NSND Income Tax | 2023 to 2024 rUK NSND Income Tax | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Starter Rate | 7.0% | N/A | 6.6% | N/A |
| Basic Rate | 27.2% | 48.0% | 26.2% | 48.3% |
| Intermediate Rate | 22.7% | N/A | 23.1% | N/A |
| Higher Rate | 32.9% | 29.6% | 33.1% | 27.5% |
| Additional/Top Rate | 10.2% | 22.3% | 11.0% | 24.2% |
4.3 Average amounts of NSND Income Tax Liability
There was a reduction in the average NSND Income Tax paid at the higher and additional/top rate bands, with the average tax paid at every other band increasing compared to 2022 to 2023.
Figure 6 (refer to table G for the same information in table form) below provides an illustration of the average NSND Income Tax paid at each Income Tax band between the 2022 to 2023 and 2023 to 2024 tax years. This information is categorised according to rUK and Scottish Income Tax regimes.
Figure 6: Average NSND Income Tax paid at each Income Tax band, 2022 to 2023 and 2023 to 2024
Table G: Average NSND Income Tax paid at each Income Tax band, 2022 to 2023 and 2023 to 2024
| 2022 to 2023 Scottish NSND Income Tax | 2023 to 2024 Scottish NSND Income Tax | 2022 to 2023 rUK NSND Income Tax | 2023 to 2024 rUK NSND Income Tax | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Starter Rate | £386 | £387 | N/A | N/A |
| Basic Rate | £1,638 | £1,673 | £3,366 | £3,511 |
| Intermediate Rate | £2,338 | £2,394 | N/A | N/A |
| Higher Rate | £9,995 | £9,488 | £13,433 | £11,923 |
| Additional/Top Rate | £74,502 | £53,060 | £97,684 | £75,163 |
Both SIT and rUK saw increases in average NSND Income Tax generated for taxpayer types below the higher rate (defined by their highest marginal rate) – aside from the basic rate in Scotland.
Average NSND income tax for higher rate and additional/top rate taxpayers decreased for both SIT and rUK due to the reduction of the additional/top rate thresholds from £150,000 to £125,140, reducing the highest level of income taxed at the higher rate and reducing the minimum level of income taxed at the additional/top rate. In Scotland, there were approximately 14,600 more top rate taxpayers in the 2023 to 2024 tax year.
Figure 7 (refer to table H for the same information in table form) provides an illustration of the average NSND Income Tax paid by each taxpayer type (when grouped by their marginal Income Tax band) between the 2022 to 2023 and 2023 to 2024 tax years. This information is categorised according to the rUK and Scotland Income Tax regimes.
Figure 7: Average NSND Income Tax paid by each taxpayer type, 2022 to 2023 and 2023 to 2024
Table H: Average NSND Income Tax paid by each taxpayer type, 2022 to 2023 and 2023 to 2024
| 2022 to 2023 Scottish NSND Income Tax | 2023 to 2024 Scottish NSND Income Tax | 2022 to 2023 rUK NSND Income Tax | 2023 to 2024 rUK NSND Income Tax | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Starter Rate Taxpayers | £194 | £194 | N/A | N/A |
| Basic Rate Taxpayers | £1,285 | £1,280 | £2,610 | £2,712 |
| Intermediate Rate Taxpayers | £4,165 | £4,184 | N/A | N/A |
| Higher Rate Taxpayers | £14,696 | £13,971 | £17,325 | £15,694 |
| Additional/Top Rate Taxpayers | £129,691 | £98,554 | £149,847 | £117,384 |
5. Indicative in-year Scottish Income Tax
5.1 Background
Given the lag between the end of the tax year and the production of the Scottish Outturn statistics, we need to look elsewhere for early indicators of IT paid by Scottish taxpayers in-year.
Table 4 of the statistical release shows a monthly time series of UK Income Tax withheld by employers on behalf of their employees (meaning the Income tax paid by employees) and the proportion of tax from Scottish taxpayers. The table also contains amounts of Income Tax withheld on behalf of Welsh residing taxpayers.
The Income Tax measure in Table 4 is not equivalent to that presented in Tables 1 to 3 as Income Tax in RTI will include amounts for non-devolved charges other than NSND Income Tax. For example, any changes to individual’s tax code to account for Savings and Dividend Income or High Income Child Benefit Tax charge (HICBC), which are not devolved to the Scottish government.
Scottish taxpayers are identified using the Scottish indicator variable provided by NPS (see section 6.2 for more details of how Scottish taxpayers are defined in NPS).
Although the tax figures are updated for each month during the in-year monthly process, the final RTI monthly time series will not be updated following the end of the tax year.
5.2 Income Tax reported as withheld from RTI
There are seasonal fluctuations within the monthly time series of withheld Income Tax in RTI. These are relatively consistent throughout the period 2020 to 2021 to 2024 to 2025.
There is a clear spike in tax in March each year. This reflects the time period when bonuses are generally paid at the end of the tax year.
There is also a smaller spike in December which is likely to reflect an increase in employment activity around the Christmas holiday period, for example, seasonal workers in supermarkets.
Table I shows the total Income Tax reported to HMRC in millions of pounds between the 2020 to 2021 and 2024 to 2025 tax years. Here Income Tax refers to amounts paid by employees through PAYE in Scotland. This information is also available to view in Figure 8 below.
Figure 8: RTI Income Tax reported as withheld for Scottish taxpayers, 2020 to 2021 through to 2024 to 2025
Table I: RTI Income Tax reported as withheld for Scottish taxpayers, 2020 to 2021 through to 2024 to 2025
| Month | 2020 to 2021 | 2021 to 2022 | 2022 to 2023 | 2023 to 2024 | 2024 to 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| April | £912 million | £1,027 million | £1,139 million | £1,408 million | £1,461 million |
| May | £882 million | £994 million | £1,097 million | £1,248 million | £1,397 million |
| June | £884 million | £980 million | £1,129 million | £1,307 million | £1,478 million |
| July | £895 million | £974 million | £1,121 million | £1,301 million | £1,389 million |
| August | £904 million | £991 million | £1,051 million | £1,233 million | £1,359 million |
| September | £882 million | £958 million | £1,082 million | £1,255 million | £1,408 million |
| October | £930 million | £1,013 million | £1,141 million | £1,308 million | £1,410 million |
| November | £919 million | £1,000 million | £1,149 million | £1,290 million | £1,507 million |
| December | £983 million | £1,099 million | £1,247 million | £1,449 million | £1,547 million |
| January | £960 million | £1,069 million | £1,187 million | £1,306 million | £1,470 million |
| February | £954 million | £1,064 million | £1,253 million | £1,365 million | £1,510 million |
| March | £1,110 million | £1,350 million | £1,510 million | £1,668 million | £1,837 million |
Seasonal fluctuations in the Scottish share of the whole UK RTI Income Tax are also relatively consistent with the 2 previous tax years, aside from peaking in November rather than October as was the case in previous years.
Following on from a November peak the Scottish share exhibits a gradual decline until it reaches a low point of around 6% in March. This likely reflects bonus payments forming a smaller proportion of remuneration for Scottish employees compared to rUK.
For the second time in 5 years the overall Scottish share of UK Income Tax has increased, with the overall share for the 2024 to 2025 tax year being 7.02%, compared to 6.99% in the 2023 to 2024 tax year.
Table J shows the monthly Scottish share of UK Income Tax reported to HMRC on a monthly basis, through RTI. These figures pertain to tax years 2020 to 2021 to year 2024 to 2025, inclusive and are also illustrated in Figure 9.
Figure 9: Scottish share of RTI Income Tax reported as withheld, 2020 to 2021 through to 2024 to 2025
Table J: Scottish share of RTI Income Tax reported as withheld, 2020 to 2021 through to 2024 to 2025
| Month | 2020 to 2021 | 2021 to 2022 | 2022 to 2023 | 2023 to 2024 | 2024 to 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| April | 7.12% | 7.06% | 7.04% | 7.43% | 7.19% |
| May | 7.17% | 6.91% | 7.00% | 7.05% | 7.14% |
| June | 7.04% | 6.91% | 7.00% | 6.91% | 7.17% |
| July | 7.21% | 6.87% | 7.00% | 7.19% | 7.23% |
| August | 7.25% | 7.11% | 6.95% | 7.15% | 7.19% |
| September | 7.04% | 6.85% | 6.93% | 7.18% | 7.33% |
| October | 7.41% | 7.17% | 7.26% | 7.44% | 7.14% |
| November | 7.20% | 7.11% | 7.16% | 7.32% | 7.61% |
| December | 6.98% | 6.87% | 7.04% | 7.28% | 7.17% |
| January | 6.61% | 6.48% | 6.62% | 6.73% | 6.83% |
| February | 6.34% | 6.14% | 6.52% | 6.52% | 6.53% |
| March | 6.20% | 6.09% | 6.16% | 6.15% | 6.18% |
| Average | 6.93% | 6.75% | 6.85% | 6.99% | 7.02% |
6. Definitions
6.1 Background
The Scotland Act 2012 gave the Scottish Parliament the power to set a Scottish rate of Income Tax (SRIT). SRIT applied to non-saving non-dividend (NSND) income only; savings and dividend (SANDD) income was not devolved. It allowed the Scottish Government (SG) to change the amount of Income Tax that Scottish taxpayers pay and, as a result, the amount that the SG had to spend on their annual Budget.
SRIT replaced 10 percentage points of each of the main UK rates of tax for the tax year commencing 6 April 2016. In that year the UK basic, higher and additional rates for NSND income were reduced by 10 pence in the pound for Scottish taxpayers. This reduction was replaced by a Scottish rate set at 10 percentage points, so the overall rates paid by Scottish taxpayers remained the same as elsewhere in the UK.
The Scotland Act 2016 extended these powers, enabling the Scottish Parliament to set the tax band thresholds (excluding the Personal Allowance) as well as the rates. This applies to all NSND income of Scottish taxpayers and took effect from 6 April 2017.
As a result of the Scotland Act 2016; the Scottish government decided to set up separate rates of Income Tax for Scottish taxpayers with the new rates taking effect from the 2018 to 2019 tax year (see Table M and N). These tax rates incorporated 2 new tax bands: the starter and intermediate rate.
6.2 Who is a Scottish taxpayer?
The definition of a Scottish taxpayer is based on where an individual resides in the course of a tax year. Scottish taxpayer status applies for a whole tax year – it is not possible to be a Scottish taxpayer for part of a tax year.
For most taxpayers, the location where they live will be obvious, but there will be less straightforward cases – for example, where people have more than one home, or have moved into or out of Scotland during the year. HMRC has provided guidance to help in these circumstances.
The location of a person’s employer is not relevant. So, for example, someone who works in Scotland, but has their home elsewhere in the UK, will not be a Scottish taxpayer.
Detailed guidance to whom Scottish Income Tax will apply
6.3 How do the tax systems on NSND income compare for Scottish and rUK taxpayers?
In 2018 to 2019 SIT was changed to introduce 2 new tax bands, the starter rate (19%) and the intermediate rate (21%) either side of the basic rate (20%). The higher and top rates of tax were also increased by 1% for Scottish taxpayers increasing from 40% and 45% to 41% and 46%, respectively.
The higher rate threshold for rUK increased to £50,000 in 2019 to 2020 but remained unchanged at £43,430 for Scotland.
Table M: Scottish and rUK Income Tax thresholds, 2022 to 2023 and 2023 to 2024
| Tax Band Threshold | Scotland 2022 to 2023 | rUK 2022 to 2023 | Scotland 2023 to 2024 | rUK 2023 to 2024 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Personal Allowance | £12,570 | £12,570 | £12,570 | £12,570 |
| Basic Rate Threshold | £14,733 | N/A | £ 14,733 | N/A |
| Intermediate Rate Threshold | £25,689 | N/A | £25,689 | N/A |
| Higher Rate Threshold | £43,663 | £50,270 | £43,663 | £50,270 |
| Additional/Top Rate Threshold | £150,000 | £150,000 | £125,140 | £125,140 |
Table N: Tax rates for Scottish and rUK Income Tax, 2022 to 2023 and 2023 to 2024
| Tax Rates | Scotland 2022 to 2023 | rUK 2022 to 2023 | Scotland 2023 to 2024 | rUK 2023 to 2024 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Starter Rate | 19% | N/A | 19% | N/A | |
| Basic Rate | 20% | 20% | 20% | 20% | |
| Intermediate Rate | 21% | N/A | 21% | N/A | |
| Higher Rate | 41% | 40% | 42% | 40% | |
| Additional/Top Rate | 46% | 45% | 47% | 45% |
6.4 Why are we producing these statistics?
The SIT outturn in HMRC’s Annual Report determines the SG’s Income Tax revenues while the equivalent outturn for Income Tax on NSND income for rUK taxpayers in these statistics is used by HMT to determine the deduction to the SG’s Block Grant. The final adjustments to the SG’s Block Grant will only be confirmed once the figures in this publication have been formally signed off by the NAO through their annual audit of the HMRC Trust Statement.
These statistics are being published to give more information about NSND Income Tax paid by Scottish taxpayers.
6.5 What is the relationship between these statistics and other personal tax statistics and information?
There are other publications which show similar statistics to what is shown in this publication. It is important to understand how these other statistics relate to what is being released here and highlight differences in coverage or data used to compile each set of statistics.
The following publications are explained below:
-
Devolved tax and spending forecasts (OBR)
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Scotland’s Economic and Fiscal forecasts (SFC)
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Personal Income Statistics from the Survey of Personal Incomes
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Earnings and Employment Statistics from PAYE Real Time Information
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Income Tax Receipts Publication
OBR: Devolved tax and spending forecasts
The OBR was established in 2010 to provide independent and authoritative analysis of the UK’s public finances. Alongside the UK Government’s Budgets and other fiscal statements, they produce forecasts for the economy and the public finances. They publish these in their Economic and Fiscal Outlook (EFO).
Since 2014, the OBR have also forecasted the tax streams that are devolved to the Scottish Parliament. The OBR publish devolved tax and spending forecasts alongside each EFO that are consistent with their main UK forecasts. The Treasury draws on the OBR’s tax forecasts when making spending settlements for the Scottish Government in accordance with their fiscal framework.
In the EFO, the OBR forecast is based on the National Accounts, with Self Assessment recorded in the year in which it is received. This contrasts to the OBR Devolved tax and spending publication and in the statistics set out here, where Self Assessment is recorded on a liabilities basis (so in the year in which the tax liability arose).
The latest OBR devolved forecasts of SIT were published in March 2025. This shows the OBR forecast of SIT for 2023 to 2024 to be £17.1bn and the rUK NSND equivalent to be £228.3bn.
OBR March 2025 Devolved Tax and Spending Forecast
SFC: Scotland’s economic and fiscal forecasts
The SFC was established in 2017 and is Scotland’s official and independent budget forecaster. As such, it is the SFC’s forecasts for SIT, rather than the OBR’s forecast, that determines the amount the Scottish Government can draw down from the Treasury. The SFC reports to the Scottish Parliament.
The SFC produces 5-year forecasts of SG tax revenues, social security expenditure and of the performance of the Scottish economy. The SFC publication ‘Scotland’s Economic and Fiscal Forecasts’ details their forecasts of devolved taxes including devolved Income Tax.
This publication also provides an explanation of how the SFC and OBR forecasts, as well as the outturn presented in this SIT publication, are used to adjust Scotland’s Budget.
The latest SFC Economic and Fiscal Forecasts publication was released in May 2025. This shows the SFC forecast of SIT to be £17.1 billion for 2023 to 2024.
SFC Economic and Fiscal forecasts
SPI: Personal Income Statistics
HMRC release an annual publication from the Survey of Personal Incomes (SPI) which shows statistics for taxpayers’ personal incomes. This publication provides breakdowns to highlight the number of individuals with different sources of income and subject to certain reliefs.
In March 2025 HMRC published the annual Personal Income statistics for 2022 to 2023 which are based on the SPI. The data used in the SPI publication is different to the data used in this publication.
The SPI is a sample of around 910,000 individuals in either Self Assessment or PAYE. The SPI is designed to measure total income and the total tax impact on the Exchequer and therefore includes the tax impact of RAS payments to pension providers and Gift Aid payments to charities. It also measures liability and takes no account of some tax not being collected.
There is a further HMRC publication, ‘Income Tax Statistics and Distributions’, which provides projections for future tax years based on the SPI. The projections in that publication reflect announced changes to the Income Tax system and use determinants from the OBR to model tax liabilities in future years. The latest publication of this series was released in June 2025 and provides projections for tax years 2022 to 2023 to 2025 to 2026.
Income Tax Statistics and Distributions
The statistics presented in these 2 publications are not expected to be consistent with what is shown in this publication. This is due to sampling variation, the measurement differences described above and the fact that projections are a forecast of how tax liabilities may evolve for future years.
RTI: Earnings and Employment Statistics
Since April 2020 HMRC and the Office for National Statistics (ONS) have jointly released monthly statistics on earnings and employment statistics using data from PAYE RTI. The aim of this publication is to provide users with information on the number of individuals receiving pay from PAYE, their mean and median pay as paid through PAYE and the total amount of pay from PAYE in each country or region of the UK.
UK Real Time Information Experimental Statistics
The statistics in the RTI earnings and employment publication are different to the RTI statistics shown in Table 4 of this statistical release, although both are compiled from the same source of data.
The RTI publication presents information relating to employees only and excludes data on payments made to occupational pensioners while this publication includes tax collected from occupational pensions as well as employments
In addition, the RTI publication only presents statistics for number of employees and their pay. This release shows tax collected via PAYE, which may include collection of tax due on other income collected via the PAYE tax code. This can arise from savings or dividend income and other charges such as the HICBC.
Income Tax Receipts Publication
HMRC publish monthly National Statistics on Tax receipts (including Income Tax receipts).
The statistics presented in this devolved Income Tax outturn publication show tax liabilities for specific tax years. Liabilities are amounts of tax due on incomes arising in a given tax year, whereas receipts show amounts paid and collected in a given year. Due to lags in the Income Tax payment regimes, particularly for Self Assessment, liabilities and receipts for the same year can differ significantly.
Liabilities and receipts will also differ for other reasons, for example when over or underpayments occur which are repaid or recovered in a later year altering total receipts in that year in a way unrelated to tax liabilities for that year.
7. Outturn data methodology
The methodology set out in this section reflects the methodology for calculating the outturn which has been agreed between the SG and HMRC.
The final outturn figures reflect accrued revenue and have been calculated using actual liabilities data together with some estimation where actual data is unavailable. Details of this for each of the 6 components of the outturn figure is explained below.
Total NSND outturn =
1. +Self Assessment established liability
2. +PAYE established liability
3. +Estimated further liability
4. -Adjustment for uncollectable amounts
5. -Relief at source (RAS) pension relief
6. -Gift aid
7.1 Self Assessment established liability
Income Tax liability is established for all individuals in Self Assessment once their Self Assessment return has been received and their tax calculation has been conducted.
This includes any individual who is required to file a Self Assessment return who also has an employment or occupational pension for which tax is deducted at source through PAYE.
The established liability for those who submit an Self Assessment return is calculated for each taxpayer identified in Self Assessment by summing the Income Tax due at each tax rate on NSND income and then reducing it by a share of reliefs.
Reliefs
Income Tax reliefs reduce the total amount of Income Tax an individual is liable to pay.
Some reliefs, such as relief for qualifying distributions and refinance relief for landlords, can only be claimed when an individual has a specific source of income. In calculating the Self Assessment established liability, such reliefs are prioritised to the appropriate stream of income before any excess is apportioned to other streams of income.
All other reliefs, such as marriage allowance, married couples’ allowance and relief for gift aid payments, can be claimed irrespective of what income sources an individual has. These ‘generic’ reliefs are applied proportionately to tax due on savings/dividend income and tax due on NSND income based on the level of gross Income Tax liability.
Other Self Assessment charges and CRCs
There are other charges which can be raised against an individual in Self Assessment through investigations/assessments or via a ‘Create Return Charge’ when an individual has failed to submit their return.
These additional charges, if known when data is being compiled, are also included when determining the Self Assessment established Income Tax liability.
The charge may include other tax liabilities (for example Capital Gains Tax). The share of the charge that relates to Income Tax is therefore estimated. This is based on the share of total liability relating to Income Tax for taxpayers who have submitted their return.
Scottish share
The total Self Assessment established Scottish liability is then calculated by summing the NSND liability, net of reliefs, across each Scottish taxpayer in Self Assessment.
Scottish taxpayers are defined by having a Scottish tax calculation in the Self Assessment system or being included in the Scottish NPS extract explained below.
The rUK established Self Assessment liability is calculated in a similar way but summing across all rUK taxpayers where rUK taxpayers are all taxpayers not included in the Scottish or Welsh NPS extracts.
Taxpayers who have indicated they were non-resident in their Self Assessment return will be counted as rUK taxpayers.
7.2 PAYE established liability
PAYE established liability includes:
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liabilities for individuals who are reconciled in PAYE
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PAYE settlement agreements
Individuals reconciled in PAYE
For individuals who are in PAYE but have not been issued with a notice to file in Self Assessment, their Income Tax liability is established when their PAYE account is reconciled.
Bespoke data extracts of all Scottish and rUK individuals in NPS for each tax year were commissioned specifically to assist in compiling the outturn figures.
This provided the liability for NSND income, net of reliefs, for all Scottish and rUK taxpayers by tax rate.
PAYE settlement agreements
The established PAYE amount includes a share of liabilities raised through PAYE Settlement Agreements (PSA).
A PSA allows an employer to make one annual payment to cover all the tax and National Insurance due on minor, irregular or impracticable expenses or benefits for their employees.
The expenses and benefits reflected in the PSA are not recorded through payroll and are not required to be included on end of year P11D forms, in which other employment expenses and benefits are reported to HMRC.
The Scottish share is determined by using RTI data to determine the share of Income Tax withheld by employers through PAYE schemes which have a PSA. RTI data is also used to determine how the tax is distributed across tax bands for Scottish and rUK taxpayers.
7.3 Estimated further liability
In addition to the established liability the final outturn figure includes an estimate for:
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liabilities from late filed Self Assessment returns
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liabilities realised from compliance activity
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liabilities from unreconciled PAYE cases
Late filed Self Assessment returns
The value of late filed Self Assessment returns has been estimated for each tax year by examining historic Self Assessment data to determine the pattern of Self Assessment filing in the preceding 5 tax years. It is assumed that the average growth of liabilities for these years will be similar to how the liabilities will grow for the years presented in these statistics.
This is performed separately for Scottish and rUK taxpayers. Taxpayers with a Scottish postcode were used as a proxy for Scottish taxpayers in these years, as no Scottish indicator exists before SIT was introduced.
This is performed at a total level and a tax band level. The estimated value of late filed Self Assessment returns at each tax band is then scaled to the total estimated value.
Liabilities from compliance activity
Included in the estimated further liability is an amount to reflect Contract Settlement Agreements which are raised as part of compliance investigations. The Scottish and rUK NSND share (as well as the split between tax bands) of this is assumed to be the same proportion as observed in the Self Assessment established liability.
As many Contract Settlement Agreements will be raised in the tax years following the outturn, this amount is estimated. The estimate is forecast based on the total value of Contract Settlement Agreements in previous tax years and OBR’s forecast of future Self Assessment Income Tax.
For the 2020 to 2021, 2021 to 2022, 2022 to 2023, and 2023 to 2024 outturns, the forecast was slightly adjusted to take into account the effect COVID-19 had on the value of Contract Settlement Agreement receipts.
Liabilities from unreconciled PAYE cases
Almost all PAYE cases are reconciled within 12 months of the end of the tax year. However, complex tax affairs or operational changes means that HMRC occasionally delays some customers’ end of year reconciliations to prevent them receiving an incorrect tax calculation or accounting update.
The Income Tax liabilities for these unreconciled cases has been estimated by using data from RTI.
7.4 Adjustment for uncollectable amounts
Uncollected Self Assessment amounts
An initial amount of uncollected debt for the current outturn year is calculated by using current Self Assessment data.
The proportion of this debt that will be collected in the future is estimated by using the same historic Self Assessment data over the previous 5 tax years used to establish the late filed Self Assessment returns for the ‘Estimated further liability’.
The average growth in the collection rate of Self Assessment liabilities observed in this historic data is applied to the initial amount of uncollected debt in the current outturn year. This is completed separately for Scottish and rUK taxpayers to calculate specific uncollected amounts for each.
This is performed at a total level and a tax band level. The estimated value of uncollected amounts at each tax band is then scaled to the total estimated uncollected amount.
Uncollected PAYE amounts
Not all tax due is collected by HMRC and some is subsequently remitted or written off when it cannot be recovered.
This component reflects the amount written off from PAYE employers when they have failed to pay all the Income Tax they were expected to.
The uncollected amount is based on HMRC PAYE Income Tax write-offs/remissions data. The data is used to calculate the value of write-offs/remissions that have already taken place for the outturn year and to forecast the value of future write-offs/remissions.
These are combined to give an estimate of how much PAYE Income Tax (at a UK level) is expected to be remitted or written off in total for the outturn year. RTI PAYE data is then analysed for each PAYE scheme with a write-off/remission to calculate what proportion of total tax collected by these schemes is in respect of Scottish taxpayers.
RTI data is also used to determine how the tax is distributed across tax bands for Scottish and rUK taxpayers.
For the 2020 to 2021, 2021 to 2022, 2022 to 2023, and 2023 to 2024 outturns, a slight adjustment to the methodology was applied to estimate these uncollected amounts to account for the impact COVID-19 may have on the profile of write-offs related to tax years between the 2019 to 2020 and the tax year 2023 to 2024.
The total proportion of uncollected PAYE NSND Income Tax was assumed to be in-line with the amounts observed in pre-COVID outturn figures.
7.5 Relief at source (RAS) pension relief
When an individual pays into a pension scheme, the scheme treats this as being received net of basic rate tax and reclaims that basic rate tax relief back from HMRC to add to the member’s pension pot.
This adjustment in the outturn calculation reflects the basic rate tax being passed to the pension provider and no longer held as Income Tax by the exchequer.
The RAS for pension contributions is calculated by using information from annual returns made by pension schemes which show the amount of gross contributions made by scheme members in the appropriate tax year.
The proportion relating to Scottish taxpayers is calculated by identifying individual contributions made by scheme members who have a Scottish postcode held on the pension contribution data.
7.6 Gift aid
When a taxpayer makes a charitable donation, the charity can claim basic rate tax relief from HMRC on the value of the donation.
This adjustment in the outturn calculation reflects the basic rate tax being passed to the charity and no longer held as Income Tax by the exchequer.
Charities can back date claims for this basic rate tax by up to 4 years. Therefore, the value which will ultimately relate to a specific tax year has been estimated using previous years data.
The Scottish share has been estimated as an average of Scotland’s share of the UK population and Scotland’s share of total UK Income as measured by the SPI. Scottish cases were identified based on postcode as the Scottish indicator did not exist before SIT was introduced.
7.7 HMRC RTI for PAYE methodology
The estimates in Table 4 have been sourced from data held on HMRC’s PAYE RTI administrative system. The RTI administrative system covers all individuals who have a live employment or occupational pension open on a PAYE Scheme.
Most people pay Income Tax through PAYE. This is the system that employers or pension providers use to take Income Tax and National Insurance contributions before they pay an employee’s wages or pension. An employee’s tax code tells the employer how much Income Tax to deduct.
Under RTI, employers are required to send HMRC information about tax and other deductions made through the PAYE system every time an employee is paid. Since April 2014, all employers have been required to report in real time through RTI. This provides HMRC with a very rich source of data, which can be used to better inform public understanding of the labour market.
Individuals who pay tax through the Self Assessment system are included in these statistics if they are also employed and paid via PAYE. Individuals with more complex financial affairs (for example the self-employed or those who have a high income) may also pay or be refunded Income Tax and National Insurance through Self Assessment. Individuals in Self Assessment who are not in the PAYE system will not be included in these statistics.
Production of in-year monitoring of Scottish Income Tax withheld in RTI, provided in Table 4 of this publication, has the following caveats:
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the sum of these figures will not equate to the final outturn and are only intended to be an indication of part of the outturn (from employments covered by PAYE)
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RTI data does not include all income reported through Self Assessment such as profits from self-employment or income from property and thus only provides a partial picture of NSND Income Tax liabilities in Scotland
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Income Tax due on other sources of income such as savings interest may be collected through PAYE by changing the tax code of individuals. This process is also used to collect amounts due for some non-Income Tax charges, such as the HICBC. Coded out tax amounts are included in RTI data and therefore appear in these figures
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RTI data in-year is subject to amendments throughout the year, and any earlier year updates that may occur are not included
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these figures are pre-reconciliation and provisional