Exercise 1: £48,000 in Scotland vs. England — Possible Solution
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In Scotland, £48,000 spans four real bands: the Starter band
(£12,571-£16,537, 19%), the Basic band (£16,538-£29,526, 20%), the
Intermediate band (£29,527-£43,662, 21%), and part of the Higher band
(£43,663-£48,000, 42%) - the top slice of this income is genuinely
taxed at 42%.

Working through each band: Starter contributes approximately £753.73,
Basic approximately £2,597.80, Intermediate approximately £2,968.56,
and Higher (on the £4,338 above £43,662) approximately £1,821.96 -
totaling roughly £8,142 in Scottish income tax.

In England (rUK bands), the exact same £48,000 falls entirely within
the single Basic rate band (£12,571-£50,270, 20%) - none of it reaches
the rUK Higher-rate threshold of £50,271 at all. The tax owed is
20% on £35,430 (£48,000 minus the £12,570 Personal Allowance),
approximately £7,086.

ANSWER: In Scotland, £48,000 spans four bands (Starter, Basic,
Intermediate, and part of Higher at 42%), totaling roughly £8,142 in
tax. In England, the same £48,000 falls entirely within the single 20%
Basic rate band, totaling roughly £7,086. The Scottish taxpayer pays
approximately £1,050 more tax on identical gross income, purely
because of where the real Scottish Higher-rate threshold (£43,663)
sits compared to the rUK one (£50,271).

WHY THIS WORKS AS AN ANSWER
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This correctly works through the real Scottish bands for the given
income, computes the real rUK comparison, and quantifies the actual
difference rather than only noting qualitatively that Scotland's
system differs.