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The Scottish government begins the budget process for Scotland on 12 December 2018, publishing its draft budget for 2019/20. This will see the Scottish government set out its plans for devolved taxes and spending in devolved policy areas for the coming year.

The draft budget will face parliamentary scrutiny over the coming months before being finalised, potentially with amendments, before the end of February 2019. Given the current make-up of the Scottish parliament, and the minority SNP government, the Scottish government will need one or more opposition parties to back their plans.

This briefing report looks ahead to the Scottish government’s draft budget for 2019/20, focusing on some of the implications of changing the devolved higher rate tax threshold in Scotland.