Scottish budget: SNP government cuts taxes for lowest earners

Shona Robison said from April 55% of taxpayers in Scotland would pay less tax than if they lived elsewhere in the UK. Photograph: Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images

Ministers in Scotland have cut taxes for the lowest earners by a modest £11 a year, as the government dug into its reserves, cut spending and increased borrowing to fund new election pledges.

With four months to go before the Holyrood elections, the Scottish National party government raised the thresholds at which people earning less than £33,500 a year will pay income tax in Scotland by 7.4%.