No 50p tax rate for Scotland says Salmond
SCOTTISH First Minister Alex Salmond last night refused to back the reintroduction of the 50p tax rate if Scotland became independent.
Speaking at a New Statesman event Salmond said taxation in the country would have to be “competitive” and did not back a return to the higher rate, which has the support of the Labour party in Westminster.
The leader of the Scottish National Party accused chancellor George Osborne of a “monumental error” in warning Scots that there will be no currency union with the UK if the nation votes for independence later this year.
Earlier yesterday the yes campaign was dealt another blow after the Institute for Fiscal Studies revised its calculations on revenues from oil and gas production.
“Our calculations suggest that Scotland would have a weaker fiscal position than was implied by the OBR’s March forecast,” IFS analysts warned.
Salmond previously forecast revenues of between £6.8bn and £7.9bn in 2016-17, the IFS has now revised that to £3.3bn. The vast gulf between figures will hit the SNP’s economic argument for independence hard.