Experts have predicted chancellor Alistair Darling will concentrate on national insurance and inheritance tax in the pre-Budget Report next month, The Scotsman has reported.

John Cairns, head of tax at BDO Scotland, said the government could consider raising the NI rate above the upper annual earnings limit of £43,875, currently at 1%. “A lot of people have earnings over £43,875 but below £100,000 and are suffering no extra tax, so the government could see that as an opportunity to raise money,” he told the newspaper.

Other measures that have been predicted are the raising of the capital gains tax rate to either 25% or 30%, and restrictions of inheritance tax for business and agricultural property. However, Ronnie Ludwig, partner at Saffery Champness, chartered accountants in Edinburgh, has demanded the chancellor consider raising the IHT threshold for individuals.

“It was originally introduced to tax only the particularly wealthy who chose to hold on to their wealth well into their old age,” Ludwig said.

"But even with the current state of the property market, there are many people who are pushed into the IHT net purely because of the value of their home,” Ludwig told the Scotsman.

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