JOHN Swinney will this week announce the first national taxes to be fully set and collected in Scotland for more than 300 years, as he sets out a budget based on "fairness and solidarity".
The Finance Secretary will woo housebuyers when he lays out the rates and bands for a new land and building transaction tax, which will replace stamp duty, on Thursday.
As part of his 2015-16 draft budget statement, he will also detail a new Scottish landfill tax. The new taxes, which take effect on April 1 next year, are expected to raise £500 million to £600m between them each year, and will be administered by a new public body, Revenue Scotland, which ministers say will be "robust" on tax avoidance. The taxes are designed to make parliament more accountable for the money it spends, but will not enrich it, as the Treasury will offset the cash raised with cuts to the annual block grant.
Swinney said the new powers were welcome but not enough: "For the first time in 300 years aspects of tax and borrowing can begin to be aligned to Scotland's distinct needs and underpin the values of fairness and solidarity.
"And we will use new rules of tax avoidance to make sure those that should pay tax, do pay tax.
"Our decision to replace the unfair and outdated system of stamp duty with a more progressive tax, more closely linked to people's ability to afford the property they want, demonstrates the importance of having tax policy for Scotland made in Scotland.
"New taxation and borrowing powers are a step forward but I believe that the Scottish Parliament should be responsible for the full range of taxes levied in Scotland.
"It is only with full fiscal responsibility that we can build a stronger, more successful economy.
"It remains to be seen whether Westminster is now ready to look again at this as part of the promised increased transfer of tax powers following the independence referendum."
The changes flow from the 2012 Scotland Act which was passed at Westminster in response to the Calman Commission on further devolution.
Other innovations include Scottish Tax Tribunals, Revenue Scotland applying a general anti-avoidance rule to tax, and the Scottish Government having the power to borrow up to £300m a year to help fund capital spending.
However, the most significant advance, a new Scottish rate of income tax collected by HMRC, will not take effect until April 2016.
All the changes were settled before the referendum, and are not related to the new Smith Commission on devolution, which should result in more financial powers for Holyrood.
Scottish landfill tax, paid by companies and councils putting waste into landfill sites, is unlikely to make a big impression on the public.
But Land and Buildings Transaction Tax (LBTT) will affect everyone buying a house from April.
It is designed to be fairer than UK Stamp Duty Land Tax, which is calculated in so-called "slabs" and applies to the full value of a home.
At present, Stamp Duty is 0% on properties below £125,000, but 1% on a property between £125,000 and a penny up to £250,000, and 3% on a house costing £250,000 and a penny up to £500,000.
It means stamp duty on a £240,000 house is £2400 but £7800 on a £260,000 house, a 225% leap in tax for an 8% increase in house price.
The SNP Government says the new LBTT will be more proportionate to the value of the house, with a zero rate on low-cost homes, and a rising scale of rates applied to more expensive homes.
Crucially, only the slice of the price above each threshold will be taxed at the related rate, rather than the top rate being applied to the full value of a property.
The rates and thresholds will be announced by Swinney on Thursday, when he will also set out forecasts for tax receipts.
The Scottish Tories said it was rich for Swinney to talk about making people pay their tax after Alex Salmond wrote-off £425m of unpaid poll tax arrears on Thursday.
MSP Alex Johnstone said: "On one hand we have an outgoing First Minister blustering that people should be exempt from paying one tax, then on the other we have the Finance Secretary quite rightly saying those who should pay tax do pay tax.
"It was nothing more than a gimmick from a First Minister whose behaviour since he announced he was resigning is becoming more erratic by the day."
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