The Scottish government has called for maximum devolution within the UK, including full control over tax and fiscal policy, in a wide-ranging set of proposals that stops just short of what would have been achieved by full independence.

However, the deputy first minister, Nicola Sturgeon, insisted: “This cannot be an attempt to win independence by the back door.”

The proposals are set out in the Scottish government’s submission to the Smith commission, which was established to agree more powers for Scotland after the country voted no to leaving the union in last month’s referendum.

They include enshrining in law the sovereign right of the Scottish people to determine their form of government, which could technically, with the necessary electoral mandate, result in another referendum.

As well as full fiscal responsibility for the Scottish parliament, the proposals include Holyrood taking charge of all domestic expenditure, including welfare, as well as employment, transport and broadcasting policy. It is proposed that the Scottish parliament should have the right to speak directly on devolved matters, such as fisheries policy, in the EU and internationally.

The submission suggests that the Barnett formula, the mechanism currently used by the Treasury to allocate public expenditure to Scotland, should continue during any transition period and remain in place if the agreed powers fall short of full fiscal responsibility.

On the day when all five main parties in Scotland met the deadline set by Lord Smith of Kelvin to submit their proposals for further powers to Holyrood, Sturgeon said she was entering the process in the spirit of compromise and called on other parties to do likewise.

“This is a process that must deliver something substantial,” she said. “That is the expectation that people in Scotland have of it. The language that was used during the referendum campaign was very clear. The other parties, in seeking to persuade people to vote no, said that more powers would amount to near federalism, a modern form of home rule, devo max.”

The Scottish government called for the establishment of a constitutional framework to cover human rights and equalities, and for Holyrood to have control over its own elections by 2016, in time to allow 16- and 17-year-olds to vote.

The pro-independence Scottish Green party has called for a written constitution to guarantee the future of the Scottish parliament and the extension of the franchise to younger voters. It likewise called for wider economic powers, including borrowing as well as taxation, though it distanced itself from the Scottish National party on the matter of corporate tax cuts.

Lord Smith’s fast-tracked review of further powers is scheduled to be completed by late November, with new devolution legislation then agreed. Potentially important differences remain between the pro-union parties on further powers, as their submissions on Friday confirmed.

Labour has called for the Scottish parliament to raise 40% of its own budget and increase the top rate of tax, while the Conservatives want Holyrood to have complete control of the rates and bands of personal income tax. At their conference in Glasgow earlier this week, senior Liberal Democrats suggested they would support Labour’s proposal for devolving control of housing benefit if Labour sanctioned a cross-party deal on complete control of income tax, which both former prime minister Gordon Brown and the shadow chancellor, Ed Balls, are known to oppose.