Households 'face £2,700 tartan tax' According to the Scotland Office, in 2007-08, the Scottish Parliament spent £32.3 billion, while the UK government spent £12.6bn on social protection payments in Scotland. This comes to £44.9bn, while total tax receipts in Scotland that year (including non-domestic rates) were £38.7bn. The paper said this gap equated to £2,700 for every Scottish household. Scotland Office minister Ann McKechin said fiscal autonomy would mean "massive new burdens" for Scottish businesses. She went on: "Those pressing for fiscal autonomy because they want power for power's sake have some difficult questions to answer. UK government spending to protect the most vulnerable people in Scotland is not something to be discarded lightly. "Fiscal autonomy would mean massive new burdens for Scottish businesses and it would also mean public expenditure in Scotland would be drastically reduced. The fiscal autonomy sums simply don't add up." Aren't they lucky someone else pays a tartan tax instead, you would think they would be grateful...