Aggregates Tax and Devolved Taxes Administration (Scotland) Bill: business and regulatory impact assessment

Scottish Firms Impact Test

A number of Scottish aggregate producers and their representatives that operate in Scotland responded to the Scottish Government's questions about the potential impact of the introduction of SAT

Scottish Government and Revenue Scotland officials also met individually with representatives of five firms mainly involved in the production of primary aggregate and three involved in the production of recycled aggregate. In addition, the British Aggregates Association, Mineral Products Association and Resource Management Association Scotland, are represented on the Scottish Aggregates Tax Advisory group, representing the interests of a significant number of organisations directly and indirectly involved in the aggregates industry.

The Scottish Government, and Revenue Scotland, intends that engagement with both the expert advisory group and individual firms will continue throughout the Bill process, the development of relevant secondary legislation and in the run up to introduction of the new tax.

In general, the view of industry stakeholders was that the requirements of UKAL are well understood and that aligning the structures and processes of the SAT as closely as possible with this would minimise the impact on taxpayers. It was also suggested by stakeholders that there were significant opportunities for improved administration of the tax, including in terms of enforcement.

Some businesses observed that extra business administration will be an unavoidable consequence of the introduction of a separate tax system. While the Scottish Government expects the overall business burden to be broadly similar, it is expected that Revenue Scotland will work with taxpayers in the development of its collection and administration systems to minimise any necessary additional burden.