Scottish rate of income tax (SRIT) meaning

Scottish rate of income tax (SRIT) describes the mechanism used in practice for the 2016–17 tax year to adjust the UK income tax paid by individual “Scottish taxpayers” on non‑savings, non‑dividend income. It was created by legislation (the Scotland Act 1998 as amended by the Scotland Act 2012) and administered by HMRC through PAYE and Self Assessment. Key features (2016–17 only): - The UK basic, higher and additional rates were each reduced by 10 percentage points and replaced by a single SRIT set by the Scottish Parliament, applied uniformly across those bands. - It applied only to individuals who met the statutory “Scottish taxpayer” tests (UK‑resident with a close connection to Scotland or, failing that, spending more days in Scotland than in any other part of the UK). - It did not affect rates on savings or dividend income, or corporation tax. - Employers operated S‑prefix PAYE codes for affected employees. From 6 April 2017 (2017–18 onwards) SRIT was superseded by fully devolved Scottish income tax rates and bands. SRIT remains a historical term relevant to legacy payroll, contractual references and tax disputes. It has no application in Ireland’s tax system.