The Scottish Government’s tax decisions will continue to follow its “progressive” model that those with the broadest shoulders should pay more, a minister has said.
Social Justice Secretary Shona Robison said the Government would also continue to look at what further taxes could be raised within the devolution settlement.
It comes after the Record revealed the Government is looking at raising the higher and top rates of income tax, which are currently 41p and 46p.
Deputy First Minister John Swinney will reveal the Scottish Budget on Thursday amid steep inflation and fiscal pressures.
Trade unions have said tax reforms like reducing the threshold for the highest rate of income tax should be used to raise more money for public services.
Speaking to the BBC’s Sunday Show, Robison said the Scottish Government had put £3 billion in place to help people with the cost of living over the last year.
Robison said: “We have changed our tax system to be much more progressive than that throughout the rest of the United Kingdom.
“But we are doing that within a very limited fixed budget with limited tax powers and limited borrowing powers.”
She said she would not set out the Government’s tax position ahead of Thursday but proposals like a land value tax would take time to introduce and would not generate revenue next year.
Saying the UK Government should have provided more help, Robison said:
“We will set out our tax position on Thursday and it will follow the progressive taxation that we already have done to raise those extra resources – that those with the broader shoulders should pay more.
“Of course, we’ll continue to look at what more we can do around the taxation powers that we have.”
The Scottish Government does not have the powers to mitigate “every single pressure for every single family”, she said.
Robison was also asked about Nicola Sturgeon’s leadership authority of the SNP, which she said was “absolutely solid”.
The Scottish Trades Union Congress (STUC) has put forward a series of tax proposals which it says will raise at least an additional £1.3 billion a year for Scotland.
STUC general secretary Roz Foyer earlier told the Sunday Show that ministers should be using their powers to start to “redistribute wealth through our economy to where it’s needed most”.
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