Publication - Research and analysis
Scottish Budget 2026 to 2027: 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 YouGov Findings
The total sample size was 1064 adults. Fieldwork was undertaken between 3rd – 9th September 2025. The survey was carried out online. The figures have been weighted and are representative of all adults in Scotland (aged 18+).
- Over half of the respondents (54%) agreed that government should redistribute income from the better off to those are less well off. 19% disagreed, with 27% saying that neither agree or disagree. (Figure 1)
- 45% of people think government should keep taxes and spending on health, education, and social benefits at the same level as now. 43% think there should be increased tax and spend on these services, with 11% thinking that government should reduce taxes and spend less on these services. (Figure 2)
- 35% of respondents would be prepared to pay more taxes in order to fund public services. Of these respondents, 65% would be prepared to pay more in income tax and 37% would be prepared to pay more green/environmental taxes. (Figures 3 and 4)
- 41% of respondents felt the amount of tax they and their family pay was about right, with 41% feeling it was too high. (Figure 5)
- 54% of respondents felt they understood the UK tax system and the UK taxes paid. This compares to 41% of respondents who felt they understood tax devolution in Scotland and the devolved taxes they paid. This is broadly in line with the last three years. (Figure 6)
- As with previous years, the most common answer for how people find information about tax was from the UK Government website (23%), followed by the Scottish Government website (11%) and mainstream media (10%). (Figure 7)
| Survey | YouGov 2020 | YouGov 2021 | YouGov 2022 | YouGov 2023 | YouGov 2024 | YouGov 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Agree Strongly | 26% | 26% | 34% | 27% | 25% | 25% |
| Agree Strongly | 32% | 33% | 33% | 30% | 34% | 29% |
| Total agree | 58% | 59% | 67% | 57% | 59% | 54% |
| Neither | 26% | 27% | 22% | 26% | 25% | 27% |
| Disagree | 12% | 11% | 8% | 12% | 12% | 15% |
| Disagree Strongly | 5% | 5% | 2% | 5% | 4% | 4% |
| Total disagree | 17% | 16% | 10% | 17% | 16% | 19% |
| Answer | YouGov 2020 | YouGov 2021 | YouGov 2022 | YouGov 2023 | YouGov 2024 | YouGov 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Reduce taxes and spend less on health, education and social benefits | 6% | 7% | 8% | 9% | 10% | 11% |
| Keep taxes and spending on these services at the same level as now | 46% | 48% | 40% | 42% | 42% | 45% |
| Increase taxes and spend more on health, education and social benefits | 48% | 46% | 53% | 49% | 48% | 43% |
| Answer | YouGov 2022 | YouGov 2023 | YouGov 2024 | YouGov 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| I am prepared to pay more taxes myself in order to fund public services | 47% | 43% | 43% | 35% |
| I am prepared for some cuts to public services rather than pay more taxes myself | 18% | 19% | 18% | 22% |
| Neither | 21% | 23% | 27% | 32% |
| Don't know | 14% | 15% | 12% | 12% |
| Answer | YouGov 2022 (n=509) | YouGov 2023 (n=502) | YouGov 2024 (n=509) | YouGov 2025 (n=413) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Income taxes | 68% | 58% | 62% | 65% |
| Green/environmental taxes | 36% | 37% | 31% | 37% |
| Local taxes (e.g. Council Tax) | 33% | 33% | 30% | 30% |
| Consumption taxes (e.g. VAT) | 29% | 27% | 28% | 29% |
| Other taxes | 4% | 4% | 7% | 4% |
| Don’t know | 11% | 9% | 10% | 10% |
| Survey | YouGov 2021 | YouGov 2022 | YouGov 2023 | YouGov 2024 | YouGov 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Too high | 28% | 30% | 36% | 37% | 41% |
| About right | 52% | 47% | 45% | 42% | 41% |
| Too low | 3% | 5% | 3% | 3% | 3% |
| Don't know | 17% | 18% | 16% | 17% | 16% |
| Scotland (YouGov) | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Answer | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
| Understand them very well | 7% | 7% | 9% | 7% | 7% | 8% |
| Understand them fairly well | 37% | 32% | 36% | 33% | 35% | 33% |
| Total understand | 44% | 39% | 45% | 40% | 42% | 41% |
| Do not understand them that well | 33% | 35% | 29% | 34% | 33% | 33% |
| Do not understand them at all | 17% | 18% | 19% | 20% | 20% | 19% |
| Total do not understand | 50% | 53% | 48% | 54% | 53% | 52% |
| Don’t know | 6% | 8% | 7% | 7% | 6% | 7% |
| UK (YouGov) | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Answer | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
| Understand them very well | 9% | 10% | 11% | 8% | 9% | 8% |
| Understand them fairly well | 50% | 42% | 48% | 46% | 48% | 46% |
| Total understand | 59% | 52% | 59% | 54% | 57% | 54% |
| Do not understand them that well | 26% | 31% | 27% | 30% | 28% | 31% |
| Do not understand them at all | 10% | 10% | 10% | 11% | 11% | 10% |
| Total do not understand | 36% | 41% | 37% | 41% | 39% | 41% |
| Don’t know | 5% | 7% | 5% | 4% | 5% | 4% |
| Answer | YouGov 2021 | YouGov 2022 | YouGov 2023 | YouGov 2024 | YouGov 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UK Government website | 22% | 25% | 27% | 24% | 23% |
| Scottish Government website | 11% | 13% | 11% | 12% | 11% |
| Friends and family | 7% | 7% | 10% | 8% | 9% |
| My employer | 5% | 5% | 7% | 8% | 6% |
| Independent websites | 6% | 6% | 6% | 7% | 6% |
| Mainstream media (newspapers, TV and radio) | 10% | 11% | 6% | 8% | 10% |
| Independent tax professional organisations | 3% | 2% | 3% | 3% | 3% |
| Social media | 2% | 2% | 1% | 2% | 2% |
| Other | 2% | 3% | 2% | 3% | 3% |
| Don't know | 6% | 7% | 5% | 5% | 5% |
| Not applicable - I don't find information on tax | 26% | 18% | 22% | 20% | 22% |