State of play on Scottish taxes

On 15 December the deputy finance minister John Swinney delivered his Scottish Budget speech highlighting the fact that he had some difficult decisions to make while acknowledging the need to allocate additional funding to public sector pay and other emergent matters which had opened up a £1.2bn gap in the public finances.

So what did he announce and what is the current state of play on the Scottish taxes front for Scottish taxpayers and businesses?

Block grant and Barnett formula

Before I start on tax it seems appropriate to explain some basic detail on the way devolved taxes work in conjunction with the mechanism known as the ‘block grant and Barnett formula’ and the fiscal framework – the agreement between Scotland and the UK as to how the money filters through.

The Scotland Act 2012 simultaneously resulted in handing Scotland more financial powers...