Scots will be hit by a stealth tax after Jeremy Hunt announced that the National Insurance threshold will be frozen until 2028.
The Chancellor of the Exchequer has today announced a raft of tax rises as the UK Government tries to rebuild its shattered economic reputation.
During his statement in the House of Commons Hunt said the threshold for National Insurance (NI) would be frozen until April 2028. It was already frozen for four years to April 2026.
Scots currently pay 12 per cent in National Insurance contributions (12p in the pound) if they earn above £12,570. As wages rise, it means many low-paid workers will begin paying NI.
Paul Johnson, director of the Institute of Fiscal Studies, said: "Freeing National Insurance contributions for employers for six years is a big tax increase".
On Sunday, Laura Kuenssberg asked Hunt that freezing thresholds could be a "sneaky" move. He replied: "The principle of my approach is that I'm not going to be hiding anything I do.
"I'm a Conservative Chancellor and I think I've been completely explicit that taxes are going to go up, and that's a very difficult thing for me to do because I came into politics to do the exact opposite.
"So, I will be honest, I will be fair and it will be a balanced approach that recognises that the economy is struggling at the moment, businesses are struggling, families are struggling.
"We need to help people through a difficult time whilst putting in place the long-term plan that gets us through to the other side and allows our economy to take off, as I really believe it can."
Freezing thresholds is known as "fiscal drag" as more people are pulled into paying higher tax and prices rise. But wage growth continues to trail behind soaring inflation, which is now at a 41-year high of 11.1 per cent.
The Resolution Foundation think tank's economists estimate that former Prime Minister Liz Truss and Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng blew £20 billion on unfunded cuts to national insurance and stamp duty, with a further £10 billion lost to higher interest rates and Government borrowing costs.
To sign up to the Daily Record Politics newsletter, click here.
