Blog: A wait and see budget with bad news for 250,000 self-employed

By Lindsay Gardiner, regional chair for PwC in Scotland

While there was considerable mention of business rate changes and social care changes in England, for Scotland, this was very much a ‘wait and see’ budget in that we’ll have to wait for the detail.

The £350 million addition via the Barnett Formula is of course to be welcomed - especially as it is in addition to the £800 million announced in last year’s Autumn Statement - but what the money does will not be revealed today.

It’s very much the same for the news around the oil and gas sector.

The industry will be glad to see that the Government is still aware of the challenges it is facing.

Announcing a panel of experts to look into the options for the tax treatment of late-life assets is a positive move and we await the discussion paper with interest. In due course we will be able to assess the full implications for the sector and, by extension, the north-east.

There are still strong reserves in the North Sea and decommissioning is a growing industry so there are a lot of variables and options for the future.

One area where we don’t have to wait and see is the impact for Scotland’s self-employed.

Today’s news about the rise in NICS will come as a blow. That’s more than 250,000 people in Scotland looking at a tax increase over the next couple of years. It appears that anyone who is self-employed and has profits of more than about £8,000 will be paying more.

Where this may have a particular impact is on Scotland’s startup tech sector and digital creative industries which are often small groups of people working on a self-employed basis.

But it’s not just the coders who will be impacted.

Car drivers, delivery drivers and similar types who work self-employed and gain employment through apps will also take a hit.

We should also all remember that our own Scottish Budget for 2017/2018 has just completed its journey through the Scottish Parliament and is just awaiting Royal Assent.