Scottish Income Tax Board minutes: October 2023

Attendees and apologies

• Deputy Director, Tax Strategy, Engagement, and Performance, Scottish Government (SG) (Chair)
• Head of Tax Strategy and Income Tax, SG 
• Income Tax Team Leader and the Single Point of Contact for Scottish Income Tax, SG
• Economic Adviser, Fiscal Analysis, Office of the Chief Economic Adviser, SG 
• Deputy Director, Income Tax Policy, HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) 
• Head of Income Tax: Structure, Devolution, and Strategy, HMRC
• Senior Policy Advisor, Devolved Income Tax and the Single Point of Contact for Scottish Income Tax, HMRC 
• Head of Inheritance, International, and Devolved Analysis, HMRC 

Items and actions

Review of actions points

The board reviewed the outstanding actions.  

Chair’s board papers update

The board discussed the correspondence papers.

Third party data clash scan

HMRC’s external supplier presented the results of this year’s third party data clash scan results. The ‘data clash’ compares HMRC’s address records with third party data to assess the accuracy of HMRC’s address data with respect to the identification of Scottish taxpayers. Following the initial scan carried out by the external supplier HMRC is taking the following actions:

• HMRC will write to individuals asking them to update their address, where results of the initial scan indicate an individual may live in a different region than that recorded in HMRC’s address data, 
• HMRC will analyse the results to assess the accuracy of HMRC’s identification of Scottish taxpayers. Unmatched records in the initial scan will be compared against current Pay As You Earn and Self-Assessment records.

The board will decide on the frequency of the third party data clash scan at the next board meeting on 30 January 2024.

Scottish Strategic Picture of Risk

The board discussed the Scottish Strategic Picture of Risk, which is HMRC’s, high-level assessment of the compliance risks of Scottish Income Tax. The assessment is driven by data, analytics and business insight.

Scottish Income Tax compliance plan

The Compliance Plan outlines HMRC’s compliance activities in 2023 to 2024 in relation to Scottish Income Tax. Compliance activity in 2023 to 2024 focuses on tax liabilities from the 2021 to 2022 tax year, reflecting the timing of self-assessment returns.  The board discussed the ongoing work to update the Compliance Plan.

Data and analysis

The board discussed HMRC’s analytical work which aims to improve understanding of the impact of Scottish Income Tax policy changes.

Scottish Income Tax annual stakeholder event

The board discussed the first Scottish Income Tax Annual Stakeholder event which took place on 12 October 2023 in Edinburgh.The event focussed on obtaining different perspectives from external stakeholders on the issues and opportunities regarding the administration of Scottish Income Tax. The board agreed to triage the feedback received to explore ways to improve the Scottish taxpayer customer journey.

Scottish Income Tax board membership

The board reviewed membership of the board and agreed not to extend membership as aspects of Scottish Income Tax administration are sensitive and confidential.

Forward look

The board reviewed its 2023 to 2024 Forward Look. The board agreed an additional agenda item to discuss Scottish Income Tax communication activities.

Any other business and Close

No other business raised by the board. The chair closed the meeting.