Aspirational Scots are being hammered for tax and John Swinney should take Kemi Badenoch’s advice and scrap the punitive Land and Buildings Transaction Tax, writes Herald columnist John McLellan

For the last year or so we’ve been thinking about moving. The last of our three Mohicans is just about finished university, the house is a bit big, the five year-fix at what is now a fantasy interest rate is ending, so it feels like the right time to downsize.

That’s the theory anyway. But we’re barely a ten-minute bus ride from Princes Street, and I can be at Haymarket station in seven minutes on my bike, So, as well as leaving behind 20 years-worth of memories, moving will be a practical wrench.

Downsizing, as thousands of readers will know, is far from simple, and nothing in our price range was anything like as handy or was quite what we needed so would require a substantial amount of work. It would mean finding somewhere to rent while the place was knocked into shape. In other words, a lot of hassle, and the equity from the sale used up on a smaller house in a place we don’t like as much.

And then there is the SNP’s wonderful Land and Buildings Transaction Tax (LBTT) which “celebrated” its tenth birthday this year. Even at the lower end of what we might be prepared to spend for something in a much less convenient location, before even thinking about removal costs and alterations, we were looking at giving John Swinney over £50,000 which we’re pretty sure we could spend a lot more wisely........

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