SNP MSP takes swipe at Nicola Sturgeon over private company earnings

A veteran SNP MSP has taken a swipe at Nicola Sturgeon and Humza Yousaf for setting up companies to receive payments for outside work. 

Fergus Ewing suggested the move may allow the former first ministers to avoid paying Scotland's higher rates of income tax. 

Speaking in Holyrood, he did not name either Ms Sturgeon or Mr Yousaf, but specifically referenced income from book royalties and television appearances, both of which the former has made money from. 

Earlier, Tory MSP Murdo Fraser had suggested Ms Sturgeon and Mr Yousaf were “guilty of the most outrageous hypocrisy”.

Nicola Sturgeon | Getty

It recently emerged Ms Sturgeon was paid £25,000 for appearing on ITV as a pundit during its live coverage of the general election, with the money paid to her company, Nicola Sturgeon Limited. She has also received payments for book reviews for The Guardian and the New Statesman magazine.

Meanwhile, Mr Yousaf has also registered a company, H & N Yousaf Ltd, with his wife Nadia El-Nakla listed as joint shareholder. It offers "business support services" and received a £2,400 payment in September for "presentations delivered at the Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue in Geneva".

Earlier this month, a spokesperson for Ms Sturgeon said any payments made to her personally by her company “will be taxed as income in the normal way”. Sources close to Mr Yousaf also said any future income derived from the company would be taxed in the usual way.

As first minister, Mr Yousaf hiked income tax for wealthier Scots. Those earning £50,000 pay £1,542 more than they would down south.

Mr Ewing, a long-term critic of Ms Sturgeon, referenced the matter in a question to SNP finance secretary Shona Robison in Holyrood. He said: "The Cabinet secretary argues that those who have the broadest shoulders in Scotland, the highest incomes, should pay more tax.

"Is she concerned, therefore, that the overall tax revenue from income tax is being reduced by some people - and I mention no names - who choose to set up a limited company, who then appear able to insert into that company's income, income from, for example, book royalties or TV appearances, and thereby reduce their liability to income tax and the amount of money for Scottish public services? Does she deprecate the use of that device?"

Ms Robison said the Scottish Government's approach to tax was founded on core principles, "which ensure that everyone pays their fair share of tax". 

She said: "We support very strong measures to tackle tax avoidance and evasion. We continue to work with HMRC through our service-level agreement to ensure that Scottish income tax is collected efficiently and reliably and to date there has been no evidence that Scottish taxpayers have been more likely to engage in non-compliant behaviour than in the rest of the UK.”

Earlier, Tory MSP Murdo Fraser had also taken a dig at Ms Sturgeon and Mr Yousaf. “Would the Cabinet secretary agree with me that any MSP or even any former first minister who voted for these crippling and counterproductive tax hikes on higher earners, and who then set up a private company into which future earnings will be paid, potentially as a means of avoiding those higher taxes they voted for, is guilty of the most outrageous hypocrisy?” he asked.

Ms Robison said she would not comment “on anybody’s individual circumstances”.