ONE OF Scotland’s top lawyers has said he would consider moving south of the border if the SNP do not follow Kwasi Kwarteng’s lead and abolish the additional rate of tax. 

Roddy Dunlop KC, dean of the Faculty of Advocates, said it would be “madness” for Nicola Sturgeon’s government not to follow suit.

Last Friday, the Chancellor stunned the Commons when he announced plans to ditch the additional 45 per cent rate of income tax in England.

It means that anyone earning over £150,000 will now pay the same 40% rate as someone earning £50,000.

The Scottish Government has said they will “reflect carefully” on the Chancellor’s announcement and set out their own measures in the coming weeks, but both Nicola Sturgeon and John Swinney have suggested they are unlikely to do so. 

READ MORE: John Swinney insists Scottish tax system will retain 'progressive character'

According to an analysis by the Chartered Institute of Taxation, the difference in rates means that anyone who earns £30,000 will pay £195 more tax in Scotland than they would in England, on £50,000 they will pay £1,863 more, and at £80,000 they will pay £2,200 more.

For those on £250,000 the gap widens to £9,045, on £500,000 it is £24,045 and for those earning a million a year it is £54,045.

Responding to reports that three of the First Minister’s former economic advisers were urging her to cut taxes here, Mr Dunlop tweeted: “I’ve lived in Scotland all my days. I love this place. I do not want to leave. But if there is this level of tax difference, I’d have to consider it.”

Mr Dunlop said he was prepared to pay 1% more than the rest of the UK but that he “baulked” at 6% more.

“I’d just like to pay the same tax as everyone else,” he added. 

On Sunday there was speculation that around a fifth of the estimated 18,000 top-rate taxpayers in Scotland will move south of the border if the SNP does not copy the cut. 

Douglas McWilliams, an economist and deputy chairman of the Centre for Economics and Business Research, told The Sunday Times that “it would be realistic to assume about 20 per cent of top-rate taxpayers could move south”.

Sir George Mathewson, the former head of the Royal Bank of Scotland, said there were dangers in a substantial tax difference between England and Scotland.

He told the Sunday Times: “We cannot afford to give people a tax incentive not to be in Scotland. Whatever they do in Westminster must influence what you have to do in Scotland because it’s an open market.

“Following Covid and now the war in Ukraine, the economy needs a massive boost and Westminster has reacted.”

Sir George, a vocal supporter of independence, added: “The Scottish Government has not been as business-friendly as it was in Alex Salmond’s time. Now it has some big decisions to make.”

Professor Sir John Kay, from the London School of Economics, pointed out that while only 0.6 per cent of the Scottish population paid the 46% rate, they made up 16% of Scottish income tax in total.

He said: “It’s a no-win situation for the Scottish Government.

“The politics of cutting top-rate taxes looks awful in Scotland, but if they don’t do it, they will lose taxes. So probably the sensible thing to do is match it, even though perhaps the politically astute thing to do is not match it.”

Benny Higgins, a Scottish banker and former business adviser to Ms Sturgeon, told The Telegraph: “A one per cent gap may be seen by me and my peers as tolerable and understandable, but a six per cent gap would be different.

“The effect on high earners means jeopardy for the Scottish business community. The Scottish Government doesn’t have to close the gap completely but should do something to reduce it.”

Tycoon Jim McColl added: “There’s always a risk that if it’s more business-friendly down south, people will recognise that, so it does create a danger for the Scottish economy.”

Last week, after the mini-budget, Ms Sturgeon was scathing. 

The First Minister tweeted: "A UK Gov 'budget' that benefits wealthiest over poor/middle income earners, tanks the £, pushes up the cost of (v substantial) borrowing, and is castigated as reckless. And yet Tories (& right wing commentators) will demand that the Scottish Government blindly follows suit. Mmm."