Scottish Budget 2024 to 2025: attitudes to tax - public engagement

Introduction

As part of a commitment to wider and inclusive engagement, the Scottish Government has established a new Tax Advisory Group (TAG) and the New Deal for Business Group, which includes a Non-Domestic Rates sub-group. These groups create the opportunity for stakeholders to provide expert advice and challenge to the Scottish Government on areas of tax policy.

The focus of TAG is on longer-term strategic tax policy and not the annual Budget process. The consultative sub-group on Non-Domestic Rates (NDR) was established under the New Deal for business Group to advise on further enhancements to the operation and administration of the Non-Domestic Rates. The sub-group, chaired by the Minister for Community Wealth and Public Finance, has a large and diverse membership, and it’s recommendations can be found in the New Deal for Business Report on Progress and Recommendations. Meetings of the sub-group in October and November provided the opportunity for members to share their views specifically in respect of non-domestic rates in advance of Budget.

More widely, in advance of the Scottish Budget, the Scottish Government conducts annual research on public attitudes to tax. This research also includes information on where people find information on tax and their knowledge of the tax system.

The Scottish Government also undertakes a programme of engagement with stakeholders that explores their views about the operation of tax policy and taxation. The points raised in the course of these discussions are also described in this report. In addition, the Scottish Government ran focus groups in 2023 to begin to develop a more detailed picture of the public’s attitude towards tax and inform our future engagement strategy.