Everyone earning more than £43,662 in Scotland will have to pay more income tax next year.

Deputy First Minister John Swinney said the higher rate of tax will increase from 41p to 42p in the pound and the top rate from 46p to 47p.

The tax threshold for the top rate will also be lowered from £150,000 to £125,140.

This change has already been announced for other parts of the UK by Chancellor Jeremy Hunt.

Mr. Swinney described the increase as an “extra penny to enable spending on patient care in our National Health Service”.

And he said he was asking people to “pay their fair share” so they could “help to create the fairer society in which we all want to live”.

Income tax rates in Scotland, as well as several other taxes, are set by the Scottish government rather than at Westminster.

About 500,000 people in Scotland are in the higher rate bracket while a further 33,000 pay the top rate of income tax, according to the government.

The threshold for the 41p higher rate will remain frozen at £43,663 in Scotland – lower than the £50,271 elsewhere in the UK.

The changes mean that everyone earning more than that threshold will pay more income tax than they did last year, and more than people earning the same salary elsewhere in the UK.

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