Does the 'No' vote mean business as usual?

The No vote does not mean that it will be business as usual for the UK, one thing is for certain, we will have change in Scotland which will have an impact on both sides of the border and will impact on businesses that operate in the North of England and the South of Scotland.

As the result of the Scotland Act 2012, the Scottish Parliament was given the power to set a Scottish rate of income tax, which would be administered by HMRC. This is expected to come in to play as it is from April 2016. In the same act, Scotland has the ability to raise taxes on land transactions and on waste disposal to landfill, which according to HMRC are set to take effect from April 2015.

For a firm such as Armstrong Watson employing people in England and Scotland, some who work on the other side of the border to which they live, is going to make managing payroll more complex. We could have two people doing the same job, with one paying more tax and taking home less, depending on where they live. We will keep an eye with interest on how matters progress as a result of the No vote, and will look to understand what the impact might be on our own business, for our staff and for our clients.

Paul Dickson, Managing Partner