The finance secretary John Swinney has ruled out an increase in Scottish income tax when Holyrood gets new financial powers next year. Mr Swinney made the announcement as he unveiled his draft budget to MSPs in the Scottish Parliament. He also announced a tax rise on many second homes and buy-to-let properties through a Land and Buildings Transaction Tax levy. And Mr Swinney confirmed that the council tax freeze would continue. The finance secretary warned that the Scottish budget was set to continue to reduce in real terms until the end of the decade, as he said it had done since 2010. Opposition parties claimed that Mr Swinney was "following where the Conservatives lead" and that his...
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