DOUGLAS Ross is facing questions over his demands for Holyrood to replicate Liz Truss's “appalling” tax cuts after estimates revealed it would save some Tory MSPs thousands on their own bills.
The new Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng watched pound sterling fall to record lows against the US dollar after announcing a swathe of tax cuts which he had claimed would set “the whole United Kingdom on the path for growth”.
The changes to UK tax policy mean that the divergence with Scotland’s rates – which have been devolved since 2016 – is set to grow, with the wealthiest taxpayers south of the Border set to save the most cash.
In line to benefit would be Douglas Ross – if he lived outwith Scotland. Ross currently earns £84,144 per annum as an MP, and £22,221 as an MSP with a dual mandate (a salary he donates to charity). This gives him an annual income of £106,365 – without including any extra cash he earns refereeing football games.
On these earnings, if Kwarteng’s tax cuts were replicated in Scotland, Ross’s tax bill would fall from around £33,393 to £31,251, according to Money Saving Expert’s income tax calculator.
Other Tory MSPs would stand to gain further, according to the latest register of interests lodged with the Scottish Parliament.
Edward Mountain, the Tory MSP and Baronet of Oare Manor and Brendon, receives rents from seven of the properties he owns, meaning his annual earnings reach around £129,162.
He would save around £2400 annually if the Scottish Government copied Truss’s tax cuts, excluding approximately £117,500 in gross annual earnings from another of his businesses.
Alexander Burnett (below), estimated to be the richest Tory MSP and also a member of the aristocracy, would save around £3800 a year thanks to tax cuts on his approximate £264,162 of annual earnings – without including the £575,000 his AJA Burnett Estate grosses each year.
The above figures are based on estimates from the MSPs’ register of interests and do not reflect exact earnings.
SNP MSP Gordon MacDonald said: “You have to question the motivation of Douglas Ross and his front bench team in lobbying for income tax cuts that benefit the wealthy and do nothing to protect lower-earning households.
“In the face of the overwhelming evidence that Truss and Kwarteng’s twisted ideology has created a financial catastrophe after just three weeks in the job, for Ross and co to demand the Scottish Government repeat this grave error is beyond belief.
“Irresponsible financial management appears to be contagious within the Tory party. If Douglas Ross and his well-paid front bench had even a vague acquaintance with financial acumen they would be demanding their UK bosses reverse these appalling policies."
Critics said Kwarteng’s decisions, including an end to a cap on bankers’ bonuses and the abolition of the 45% tax rate on earnings over £150,000, would benefit the rich while doing “nothing” to help people suffering through the cost-of-living crisis.
The UK Chancellor (above) further announced that a 1.25 point rise in National Insurance payments (from 12% to 13.25%) brought in by his predecessor Rishi Sunak would be scrapped, and the basic tax rate in the UK outwith Scotland cut to 19%.
The Scottish tax bands see earnings from £12,571 to £14,732 taxed at 19%, from £14,733 to £25,688 taxed at 20%, from £25,689 to £43,662 taxed at 21%, and from £43,663 to £150,000 taxed at 41%. Earnings in Scotland above £150,000 are taxed at a rate of 46%.
The new Tories’ newly introduced bands will see earnings in the rest of the UK from £12,571 to £50,270 taxed at 19%, and all earnings above £50,271 taxed at 40%. The tax band which saw earnings over £150,000 taxed at 45% has been abolished.
In both Scotland and the rest of the UK, the personal allowance threshold means that earnings up to £12,570 are free of tax.
The changes will mean that anyone earning more than £14,732 outwith Scotland will pay less tax than they would inside the country.
However, analysis from the Resolution Foundation found that around two-thirds of the savings households will make thanks to Kwarteng’s tax cuts will go to the richest one-fifth.
Polling from YouGov found that around seven in 10 Tory voters were opposed to the tax cuts for the wealthiest in society.
The Scottish Greens called on Ross to explain his position on Truss’s tax cuts, after he refused to openly back either candidate during the Tory leadership election race over the summer.
Ross Greer MSP said: "Douglas Ross is well known for his indecision when it comes to supporting his party leaders, then not supporting them, then supporting them again. Just ask Boris Johnson.
"Where does he stand on Liz Truss now though? Does he support the extremist economic vandalism she is now inflicting on the country? Does he support the end of the bankers' bonus caps or the tax cuts for the rich which have cratered the value of pound sterling?
“Are these really the Scottish Tories' priorities when hundreds of thousands of people are being plunged into poverty and families are being forced to choose between freezing and starving?
"The cost crisis is getting worse by the hour but rather than support the most vulnerable, the Tories are laser-focused on making their rich friends even richer, and Douglas Ross has all but disappeared from view.
"Does he back the Prime Minister’s handling of the economy or not?”
The Scottish Tories have been approached for comment.
