Moray MP Douglas Ross has welcomed plans unveiled by Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson today (Thursday 19 July) that will exempt service personnel including those based at RAF Lossiemouth and Kinloss Barracks in Moray, from being punished by the SNPs Nat Tax.
Thousands of personnel across Scotland including those based in Moray were set to be penalised and left out of pocket by tax rises announced by the Scottish Government. But these measures will protect around 8,000 personnel who would otherwise be negatively affected by the income tax hikes. Personnel will be compensated with an annual payment to make sure that all troops, regardless of where they are deployed or where their families are based, will pay the same income tax.
These measures will protect nearly three quarters of all armed forces personnel liable for Scottish Income Tax and will help with recruitment and retention, particularly as many of those affected are personnel with specialist skills, such as aircraft and submarine engineers.
Commenting Douglas said: “Since these tax rises were announced by the Scottish Government I have been contacted by large numbers of service personnel and their families who felt that they were being unfairly treated in comparison to other members of the armed forces stationed elsewhere in the world who were not being penalised in this way. Purely by being stationed in Scotland, these personnel would end up paying higher tax than colleagues based elsewhere.
“Since the announced their budget, I have been campaigning for the UK Government to mitigate these tax rises. I am delighted that the Defence Secretary has listened to these concerns and acted. This shows the positive effect we can have as members in the governing party, delivering for service personnel in Moray and across Scotland.
“Despite what the Scottish Government has said, this would have had a negative impact in Scotland and I heard time and time again about the impact the tax rise was having on members of the Armed Forces in Scotland. The UK Government is investing heavily at RAF Lossiemouth and we have strong numbers of soldiers at Kinloss so it is imperative that we show personnel based here that we value their service. This announcement does exactly that.”
Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson said: “It is completely wrong for the brave men and women of our Armed Forces to be punished for serving in Scotland by unfair raids on their pay packets by the Scottish Government.
“That’s why we have taken this urgent action to ensure that our troops are treated equally and fairly. I’m proud that the UK Government recognises the sacrifices our Armed Forces make across the United Kingdom and the world, and that today we can reassure our service personnel that they will not be left hundreds of pounds out of pocket because of decisions taken by the Scottish Government.
“Douglas has been a real champion for his Moray constituents on this issue, if it were not for his efforts and those of his Scottish Conservatives colleagues, it’s unlikely this issue would have been resolved.”