Only 20% of Scots correctly identified that income tax is a shared responsibility of the Scottish and UK parliaments, according to research carried out by the CIOT. This is the lowest figure recorded since the survey was first conducted in 2018 (34%) and is a fall of seven percentage points on the 27% recorded when the poll was last undertaken in 2021.
More than half (52%) of the respondents incorrectly thought that the Scottish parliament is responsible for setting income tax. This is the highest figure recorded since the survey began (when the percentage was 41%).
Sean Cockburn, chair of the CIOT’s Scottish technical committee, said: ‘The growing confusion among Scots over where income tax is set is concerning. Scots may be looking at the increasingly lively debate about levels of income tax and concluding that this means that power rests solely at Holyrood. The reality, however, is more complicated than that, as many important aspects of the income tax regime continue to be set on a UK wide basis, such as the amount of money someone can earn tax free and the amount of income tax that someone pays on their savings or dividend profits.
‘A lack of understanding of how the tax system works is not a uniquely Scottish issue, but increasing divergence between the Scottish and UK income tax regimes means it will be important to ensure taxpayers can more easily understand where responsibility and accountability lies,’ Cockburn added.
Only 20% of Scots correctly identified that income tax is a shared responsibility of the Scottish and UK parliaments, according to research carried out by the CIOT. This is the lowest figure recorded since the survey was first conducted in 2018 (34%) and is a fall of seven percentage points on the 27% recorded when the poll was last undertaken in 2021.
More than half (52%) of the respondents incorrectly thought that the Scottish parliament is responsible for setting income tax. This is the highest figure recorded since the survey began (when the percentage was 41%).
Sean Cockburn, chair of the CIOT’s Scottish technical committee, said: ‘The growing confusion among Scots over where income tax is set is concerning. Scots may be looking at the increasingly lively debate about levels of income tax and concluding that this means that power rests solely at Holyrood. The reality, however, is more complicated than that, as many important aspects of the income tax regime continue to be set on a UK wide basis, such as the amount of money someone can earn tax free and the amount of income tax that someone pays on their savings or dividend profits.
‘A lack of understanding of how the tax system works is not a uniquely Scottish issue, but increasing divergence between the Scottish and UK income tax regimes means it will be important to ensure taxpayers can more easily understand where responsibility and accountability lies,’ Cockburn added.
