Armed Forces personnel based in Scotland pay more tax than anywhere else in the world
Moray MP Douglas Ross is calling for action after it was revealed that Armed Forces personnel who are stationed in Scotland, are paying more tax than if they were based anywhere else in the world.
Douglas whose Moray constituency includes both RAF Lossiemouth and Kinloss Barracks, was commenting after the Public Accounts Committee yesterday, where the Chief of Defence People at the MoD Lieutenant General Richard Nugee said that Scotland is the only place in the world where the Armed forces don’t pay Westminster tax.
The revelation comes as the Ministry of Defence is undertaking a review on ways to mitigate the Nat Tax for Armed Forces personnel based in Scotland. Lieutenant General Nugee also stated that there are several proposals on the table with a final decision expected to be made by the Government shortly.
Douglas has joined forces with fellow Scottish Conservative Kirstene Hair MP, who both have military bases in their respective constituencies in calling on the Secretary of State for Defence to intervene following the Scottish Government’s decision to raise taxes on thousands of military personnel in November.
Commenting, Douglas said: “It simply isn’t fair that UK service personnel based in Scotland are forced to pay more than their colleagues based anywhere else in the world.
“The Nat Tax acts as a deterrent to attracting the best and brightest to serve in our armed forces, and I am glad the Secretary of State has undertaken this review.
“This evidence from the Chief of Defence People shows that Scottish Conservatives were right to fight for a fair deal for our brave service men and women who are being punished by the SNP making Scotland the highest taxed part of the United Kingdom.
“It is good that there are several options being looked to clean up the SNP’s mess and I look forward to hearing what the outcome will be in due course.
“This is an important issue and I’m sure that personnel stationed in Moray at Kinloss and Lossiemouth would welcome a change in this policy!”