The Scottish Tories said it was 'embarrassing and telling' (Image: GETTY)

       The Scottish Tories have said it is "embarrassing and telling" that hundreds of staff working for Humza Yousaf's government live in England where they pay lower income tax.

       Figures obtained using a Freedom of Information request found 280 Scottish Government employees reside south of the border and pay taxes to the UK Government.

       The Scottish Conservatives argued the figure demonstrates behavioural change caused by higher income tax rates in Scotland.

       Scottish Tory finance spokeswoman Liz Smith branded it a "humiliating rebuke to their employer".

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       She said: “The growing gulf in tax rates is a huge disincentive for people to live and work in Scotland, and one of the factors most likely to inhibit the economic growth we so desperately need.

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       “It is embarrassing and telling that so many Scottish Government staff should be paying the rate that applies south of the border to avoid the punitive tax imposed by the SNP.

       “While it is entirely understandable that those with valid grounds for doing so – for example, if their family home is in England – should choose to avoid the extra tax imposed by the SNP it is also a humiliating rebuke to their employer.

       “And, after the latest tax hikes in Shona Robison’s disastrous budget, it would be no surprise if more people in the south of Scotland moved house to Berwick or Carlisle – to avoid being clobbered further.

       “These figures are a portent of the growing behavioural change we can expect in the wider workforce – which experts have warned about – because the SNP Government continue to make it more expensive to live here.

       “Those huge extra costs for middle earners actually bring in a tiny proportion of the SNP’s funding shortfall, but they risk driving away the doctors, dentists, business people, engineers and others that are crucial to Scotland’s economic health.”

       The figure, as of December 27, is around 1.7 per cent of the 16,345 staff working across Scottish Government departments.

       It comes after Deputy First Minister Shona Robison announced further tax divergence from the rest of the UK in the Scottish Government's budget last month.

       Under the plans, the top rate of tax will increase by 1p in the pound, while a new rate for those earning above ￡75,000 will be introduced.

       According to the Scottish Fiscal Commission (SFC), those living in Scotland and earning more than ￡28,850 pay more tax than in the rest of the UK, with the impact largely seen in those earning more than ￡50,000.

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       Ms Robison said: “We will take precisely zero lessons from the Tories on tax policy – their credibility rating was downgraded to junk status the moment they demanded we copy Liz Truss’s disastrous tax policies, which wiped billions from the economy, endangered pension funds and pushed up mortgage interest rates.

       “Official statistics show that thousands more people have moved from Tory-run England to SNP-run Scotland than vice versa in the last few years – and no wonder.

       “Thanks to the SNP’s progressive tax decisions, the majority of people in Scotland pay less income tax than they would elsewhere in these islands, and average Scottish council tax bills are also hundreds of pounds lower than south of the border.”

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