Skip to main content Taxpayers who earn more than £100,000 may see a reduction in their Personal Allowance. We’ll talk more about this below.
Income Tax in Scotland: what you need to know
If you’re a taxpayer in Scotland, you pay Income Tax on any income you receive in a tax year above your Personal Allowance. Income Tax in Scotland functions in a similar way to the rest of the UK, but has additional tax brackets. You can find out more about Income Tax in our accounting glossary.
As in the rest of the UK, if you earn more than £100,000 during the tax year, HMRC will reduce your Personal Allowance by £1 for every £2 earned over £100,000. This means that if you’re a Scottish taxpayer and earn £110,000 during the tax year, your Personal Allowance will be reduced to £7,570 (£12,570 - £5,000)* for the tax year.
*Presuming that you have a standard Personal Allowance of £12,570.
How are Income Tax brackets different in Scotland?
As of the 2024/25 tax year, there are six Income Tax brackets in Scotland compared to three in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. The table at the top of this page contains more details about each of the Scottish brackets.
Note: Income from dividends is taxed at a different rate.
How to pay Income Tax
If you already pay tax through PAYE and owe less than £3,000 in total, HMRC can automatically take what you owe through your tax code. This will be taken from your salary or pension. To be eligible to pay your Income Tax bill this way you must have filed your paper tax return before 31st October or your online tax return by 30th December.
If you’re self-employed, Income Tax is calculated annually on your Self Assessment tax return. The total amount of Income Tax due following completion of your return can be paid in the following ways:
| Online or telephone banking (Faster Payments) | Same or next day |
| CHAPS | Same day |
| Bacs | Three working days |
| Debit card | Same or next day |
| Business credit card (1.5% charge, personal credit cards are no longer accepted) | Same or next day |
| Cheque through the post | Three working days |
| Existing Direct Debit | Three working days |
| New Direct Debit | Five working days |
| PAYE tax code | N/A |
| At your bank or building society | Same or next day |
Online or telephone banking: If you’re paying by online or telephone banking (Faster Payments, CHAPS or Bacs), details for the HMRC bank account you should pay your tax bill into on the government's website.
Debit card or business credit card: If you’re paying by debit or credit card you can do so by following the links from your HMRC online account.
Cheque: You can pay your Income Tax bill with a cheque made payable to ‘HM Revenue and Customs only’ followed by your Unique Taxpayer Reference (UTR) number. It should be posted along with your paying-in slip to HMRC, Direct, BX5 5BD – no street name, city name or PO Box is required.
Direct Debit: You can set up a Direct Debit from your HMRC online account. The first time you set up a Direct Debit for Self Assessment allow at least five working days before you submit your return to ensure the payment is taken from your account in time. Thereafter allow for at least three days. Note that you have to set up a new direct debit every time you wish to make a payment and that payment on account requires a separate Direct Debit.
At your bank or building society: You can only pay your income tax bill at your bank or building society if you still get paper statements from HMRC and have the paying-in slip they sent to you in the post. Payments can be made by cash or cheque made payable to ‘HM Revenue and Customs only’ followed by your Unique Taxpayer Reference (UTR), followed by the letter ‘K’.
Note: All taxable income is defined as gross income less any allowances (such as the Personal Allowance) and reliefs available to the taxpayer.
