When Scotland’s finance secretary, Shona Robison, delivered the Scottish budget for 2026-27 on January 13, she framed it as a budget for families that would ease pressure on household finances. Coming only a few months before the Scottish parliamentary elections in May, this budget is especially significant.
On income tax, the message from the Scottish National Party-led government was clear. Hitting out at recent UK national budgets, Robison argued, correctly, that freezing income tax thresholds means that more of people’s pay is taxed, or taxed at a higher rate. She told the Scottish Parliament: “I am making a different choice.”
