Details of Provisions
Subsection (1) provides an enabling power to allow the Secretary of State to treat individuals of any description specified in the order as - or as not - a Scottish taxpayer for the purpose of any reserved matter set out in Head F of Part II of Schedule 5 (social security, child support, pensions - including public service pensions - and war pensions). Its main purpose is to remove uncertainty and the risk of delay in the assessment process, and to preclude the need to ask all benefit claimants, including claimants in England, about connections in Scotland. It is intended to exercise the power so that for benefit and child support purposes a person’s address at the time of assessment will normally be the determining factor in deciding whether or not the Scottish tax rate should apply. In the overwhelming majority of cases, this administrative easement will have no effect on the amount of benefit.
Subsection (2) provides an enabling power to allow the Secretary of State to specify what shall be treated as the Scottish rate of tax for the purposes of social security, child support and pensions. The intention is to remove uncertainty over the relevant rate of tax, particularly for claims assessed in any part of a year before the Parliament passes a tax resolution.
Subsection (3) provides that orders under this section can apply to individuals irrespective of whether they are more closely connected with Scotland or another part of the United Kingdom for the purposes of Part IV.
Subsection (4) defines “Scottish taxpayer” by reference to in Part IV.