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As someone who knows their way around the tax system, let me explain why the SNP's shameless £500 bung stunt isn't rooted in any kind of reality. A thread 
1. HMRC doesn't get sent your wages to deduct income tax from you. Your EMPLOYER calculates the tax you owe, holds...
1. HMRC doesn't get sent your wages to deduct income tax from you. Your EMPLOYER calculates the tax you owe, holds...
2. ...that money back and then pays HMRC. That calculation is done primarily via payroll software, software that is updated on a yearly basis at the end of the tax year based on the rules decided by the Scottish government, i.e your tax free allowance and tax brackets.
3. Your tax free allowance is what decides your tax code. In Scotland if you look at your payslip the majority of people will see S1250L. The 'S' tells the payroll software to apply the Scottish rules, '1250L' tells it your tax free allowance is £12500 (your tax free allowance...
4. ...could be different for a number of reasons outside the scope of this thread). This is complicated software we're dealing with that is maintained by 3rd party companies. There is simply no current mechanism to say do not tax this specific £500 payment and to introduce...
5. ...one would require a change in the tax rules and software updated. The only mechanisms to allow this payment to go untaxed would be:
A. For HMRC to be given a list of all the thousands of employees this applies to and to recalculate the their tax codes, which would be...
A. For HMRC to be given a list of all the thousands of employees this applies to and to recalculate the their tax codes, which would be...
6. ...a huge project.
B. HMRC to issue a tax rebate, again a huge project.
C. For the employer to calculate the employees wages factoring in tax to ensure they get the full £500, this could mean getting paid £650 extra rather than £500 and the tax collected by HMRC would...
B. HMRC to issue a tax rebate, again a huge project.
C. For the employer to calculate the employees wages factoring in tax to ensure they get the full £500, this could mean getting paid £650 extra rather than £500 and the tax collected by HMRC would...
7. ...be returned to the Scottish government through the usual channels.
Options A and B are very messy, time consuming and complicated. Option C is a fudge but would be the least hassle using established practices.
The absolute brazeness of the SNP to take a system...
Options A and B are very messy, time consuming and complicated. Option C is a fudge but would be the least hassle using established practices.
The absolute brazeness of the SNP to take a system...
8. ...this complicated, to reduce it down to 'we're giving people an extra £500 don't you evil toaries steal it' is utterly, utterly shameful and why Boris is 100% correct that devolution has been a complete disaster. The SNP are leveraging...
9. ...the mechanisms of the state to drive a wedge between Scotland and the UK by exploiting people's ignorance of, in this case, the complicated system of income taxation. They really are just a shower of horrible cunts.
* the £650 mentioned above is illustrative, the real...
* the £650 mentioned above is illustrative, the real...
10. ...figure will be different depending on what tax bands people fall into. £650 just a rough guess.
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Thread ends.
