Scottish Budget 2025 to 2026: Public Attitudes to Tax
A summary of the public attitudes data and stakeholder priorities on tax policy that were collected during the Scottish Government’s pre-Budget engagement programme.
Key Scottish Social Attitudes Survey Findings
The SSA survey includes approximately 1,200 to 1,500 face to face interviews per year with a representative sample of people in Scotland.
| Answer | SSAS 2023 |
|---|---|
| Reduce taxes and spend less on health, education and social benefits | 12% |
| Keep taxes and spending on these services at the same level as now | 38% |
| Increase taxes and spend more on health, education and social benefits | 47% |
| None of these | 1% |
Just under half (47%) of people thought government should increase taxes and spending; under four in ten (38%) thought government should keep taxes and spending the same, and 12% thought government should reduce taxes and spending.
This question has been asked since 1999.
| Answer | SSAS 2023 |
|---|---|
| Agree strongly | 20% |
| Agree strongly | 30% |
| Total agree | 50% |
| Neither | 25% |
| Disagree | 15% |
| Disagree strongly | 8% |
| Total disagree | 23% |
Half of people surveyed (50%) agreed that Government should redistribute income from the better-off to those who are less well-off; just under a quarter (23%) disagreed and just over a quarter (27%) either didn’t agree or disagree, or didn’t know or answer.
This question has been asked since 1999.
The full data set and analysis is available here.
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