THE SNP have accused BBC Scotland of failing to “grasp the basics of the Scottish income tax system” after a “false claim” on one of its flagship shows.
Keith Brown, the SNP’s depute leader, hit out at the BBC after a report on Good Morning Scotland which wrongly characterised who would pay more tax north of the Border than south of it.
Due to the six staggered bands of the Scottish income tax system, people earning less than around £28,867 will pay less tax in Scotland than they would in England, and vice versa.
This figure has been repeatedly published by the BBC, which reported in April: “Anyone on more than £28,867 in Scotland will pay more income tax than someone with the same earnings elsewhere in the UK.”
However, in an interview with Deputy First Minister Kate Forbes, the BBC wrongly stated that someone earning £12.60 an hour would pay more tax in Scotland than they would in England.
The Good Morning Scotland host said: “If somebody is on, what, £12.60 an hour, working full time, they will be paying slightly more in Scotland than they would elsewhere.”
The SNP said that someone working 40-hour weeks (considered full-time) at a rate of £12.60 an hour would have an annual pay packet of around £26,208, more than £2500 below the rate at which people begin to pay more tax than they would in England.
SNP depute leader Brown said: “I was disappointed to hear the false claim that somebody earning £12.60 an hour would pay slightly more tax in Scotland than they would if they lived elsewhere in the UK on Good Morning Scotland on Wednesday.
“This is just simply not true – someone who earns £12.60 an hour, working full time at 40 hours a week, would produce an annual salary of £26,208.
“While I am saddened that the BBC still does not grasp the basics of the Scottish income tax system, it has provided an opportunity to remind people that Scottish Government policies ensure that the poorest 51% of Scots pay less income tax than they would if they lived in England, for the highest level of public services available anywhere in these islands.”
A BBC spokesperson apologised for the error.
“This was a wide-ranging interview between the Deputy First Minister Kate Forbes and our presenter Laura Maxwell.
"We apologise for the error in our questioning,” they said.
It comes on the same day as the BBC’s executive complaints unit (ECU) rapped Good Morning Scotland after it claimed that Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar wanted to immediately scrap the two-child benefit cap – despite there being “no evidence” that this was the case.
