A Consultation on Tax Management: Analysis of Responses

ANNEX 2: VIEWS ON THE DRAFT PARTIAL BUSINESS AND REGULATORY IMPACT ASSESSMENT

Six respondents commented on the draft partial equalities assessment as follows:

Tax authority options

One public body welcomed in particular the Scottish Government intention to adopt option two for managing the devolved taxes and option one for the transitional arrangements for appeals.

Tax framework options

A preference for option two over option three was highlighted by one tax professional, who disputed the suggestion in the assessment that option two may lead to the system becoming "fragmented and complex", so long as new provisions are introduced only where necessary, proportionate and effective in the collection and administration of the new powers.

Another respondent (Tax) supported option three as providing a single framework for Scottish taxes which should, in theory, lead to a more coherent system, and hopefully efficiencies.

One view (Tax) was to caution against any future modification of the devolved tax management framework in order to accommodate specific additional devolved taxes. It was agreed that this could lead to fragmentation of the system. This respondent argued that it appeared better to have an effective tax and a less uniform management system than an ineffective tax and a uniform management system.

Costs

Three tax professionals raised issues around costs:

• There will be an identifiable public sector cost associated with the consultation and legislative drafting processes.
• The impact of the appeals process on costs for taxpayers will depend on a number of factors such as the clarity of the legislation and the policy decision on how costs might be awarded, as well as the skill and expertise of the tribunal members in arriving at decision that both parties are able to understand and abide by, rather than appeal further.
• It is not clear in the assessment whether an estimated cost of training staff at Revenue Scotland, RoS and SEPA has been included. These costs should not be ignored.
• Concern that the costs and complexity of the establishment and operation of Revenue Scotland have been underestimated.