For financial year 2025/26, the SNP Government will again push through a budget that is underpinned by a high tax and low economic growth agenda.
The Scottish Government budget will clear it’s final stage 3 hurdle in parliament next week as the Greens and Liberal Democrats are supporting the SNP.
Meanwhile, Labour have shamefully decided not to oppose the SNP by abstaining on the key budget votes.
At Holyrood, it is only the Scottish Conservatives who are properly challenging the SNP and setting out an alternative to the failed Nationalist agenda.
Our focus during the current budget process has been to propose measures designed to put more money into people’s pockets and support hard pressed small businesses.
As part of our approach, the Scottish Conservative MSP group has set out three specific policies we believe should be delivered in the forthcoming financial year.
Firstly, we would cut income tax to 19 percent for every taxpayer in Scotland with a salary up to £43,700.
This would be achieved by removing both the 20 percent income tax rate for people earning wages between £14,900 and £26,600 and the 21 percent band for salaries ranging from the latter figure to £43,700.
Delivering this particular income tax cut would make more than 2.7 million people in Scotland better off and save the average worker £222.
The income tax rises forced on the Scottish people by the SNP means the public will pay £1.7 billion more in taxation over the course of 2025/26.
We believe that this is wrong and hard-working Scots should be able to take home more of their hard-earned wages.
Secondly, Scottish Conservatives would reduce the taxation burden for people purchasing a property.
We would do so through raising the point at which a family or individual begins to pay tax on property purchases up to £250,000.
This would be achieved through increasing the Land and Building Transactions Tax (LBTT) zero-rate threshold on residential houses from the existing £145,000.
Such a change to LBTT could benefit up to 59,000 home buyers on a yearly basis and save £800 on the average house purchase.
Thirdly, SNP support to pubs and restaurants has been sorely lacking and they fail to understand just how important these small businesses are to local communities throughout Scotland.
Scottish Conservatives have set out clearly that we believe all pubs and restaurants should be exempt from paying business rates for the duration of 2025/26.
We would also pass on in full the 40 percent business rates relief funded by the UK Government for retail, hospitality and leisure businesses in England.
In sum, our plans would result in a business rates tax cut for over 3,000 pubs and restaurants respectively.
The SNP has decided on a different approach and one that will harm growth in the Scottish economy and the pay packets of workers in Scotland.
As the Lib Dems have joined the Greens in supporting the SNP budget and Labour are weakly allowing it to pass without challenge, Scottish Conservatives stand alone in opposing the Nationalists and we are the only party setting an agenda to deliver tax cuts and support to small businesses.
