Meantime, the Scottish government has not even announced the rate for the SRIT, expected to be confirmed later this week at the Scottish Budget presentation, creating more confusion for Scottish-based taxpayers.

The Low Incomes Tax Reform Group (LITRG) says the decision not to put a contact number for a helpline on the first batch of letters HMRC sent to taxpayers in Scotland, which started going out two weeks ago, risks leaving people unable to get answers to their questions. 

The letters are intended to confirm the accuracy of records for the 2.6m taxpayers who live in Scotland and who will pay the new SRIT from 6 April 2016. HMRC will determine who is a Scottish taxpayer based on where their main place of residence is.

Anthony Thomas, LITRG chairman, said: ‘No telephone number is given on the letters so that people can update their information with HMRC or confirm that their main residence is elsewhere. Instead, recipients of the letters are directed to the gov.uk website to report changes and to find out more about how the Scottish rate might affect them - something that is not particularly easy for a significant number of taxpayers.

‘It is all very well referring people to a website, but some people will lack internet access and others will have questions which the website does not answer. This is far from helpful and is a concern.’

 LITRG wants HMRC to put its general number for taxpayers to call if they have enquiries about their tax affairs, which is 0300 200 3300, on its future correspondence with Scottish taxpayers, arguing many will require reassurance as their tax affairs undergo major change and will want advice on how this impacts upon them.

HMRC’s letter encourages Scottish taxpayers to ensure their address details are correct and seeks to reassure the  majority, for whom residence is a simple matter, that there is no further action that they need to take. It also explains that from next April, Scottish taxpayers who are either employed or receive a pension, will have a new tax code beginning with the letter ‘S’.

However, RSM is also warning that the introduction of the SRIT will have a significant but under-recognised impact on employers both inside and outside of Scotland, and says HMRC needs to do more to highlight this.

Stephen Hay, head of tax at RSM in Scotland said: ‘’While these letters will go some way towards addressing this issue, we are concerned about the wider implications for employers.’

Where in the UK an employer is based has no bearing on whether an employee pays the SRIT, and it is not the employer’s responsibility to consider whether an employee is entitled to an S prefix in their tax code.

Hay said: ‘However, there will nevertheless be important administrative burdens placed on employers. All employers with Scottish resident employees – or even a single worker living in Scotland - will still need to be set up to deal with the new regime and have payroll software which can cope with the new codes. ‘It is also likely that employers will have to respond to queries from their staff, and deal with the inevitable teething difficulties that the introduction of the new rate will bring – particularly in the event that the Scottish government decides to raise or lower the rate.’

From next April, the UK income tax rates, the basic, higher and additional rates, paid by Scottish taxpayers will be reduced by 10p in the pound. The Scottish rate will then be set annually by the Scottish Parliament at any value from 0p upwards in half pence units. The draft budget including the proposed Scottish rate will be published on the 16 December.

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