Scottish Income Tax Board Minutes: May 2026

Attendees and apologies

•    Deputy Director, Tax Strategy, Engagement, and Performance, SG (Chair)
•    Head of Income Tax and Tax Strategy, SG
•    Income Tax Team Leader and the Single Point of Contact for Scottish Income Tax, SG
•    Senior Policy Advisor, Scottish Income Tax Policy Team
•    Economic Advisor, Fiscal Analysis, Office of the Chief Economic Adviser, SG  
•    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 
•    Policy Advisor, Devolved Income Tax

Apologies:

•    Deputy Director, Income Tax Policy, HMRC

Items and actions

Board Papers Update 

The Board approved the Action Log, the minutes of the 03 February 2026 meeting and the 2026 Service Level Agreement. The Board also approved the SIT Analytical workplan, the Q4 Finance Report, and the Q4 Business Intelligence Report.

Third-Party Data Assurance Exercise

The Board previously set a threshold to determine whether the third-party data assurance exercise should be run annually or every two years. The Board set the threshold at 15,000 mismatches. In February 2026, the Board agreed to review the threshold to determine if it is still at an appropriate level.

The Board reviewed the results of exercises since 2019 and agreed to set the threshold at 0.25% going forward.

Election Review

The Board discussed the results of the Scottish Parliament election and planned activity by HMRC. 

SG will speak with the new Cabinet Secretary for Finance about the manifesto commitments. HMRC offered to complete impacting for potential changes. The Board also discussed the upcoming property income tax powers.

2026-27 Planning

The Board discussed activity for the 2026-27 tax year. The Compliance Working Group will continue to meet quarterly and will oversee the work to produce a Scottish Income Tax Gap. The Board discussed data availability to support compliance analysis.

The Board also discussed external scrutiny with the next NAO report expected in January 2027.

The Board agreed to review the SIT Annual Report and the activity included in the report. The Board considered sharing the SIT Annual Report with the Public Audit Committee.

Forward Look

The Board reviewed a Forward Look for the next meeting and agreed areas of interest including how Making Tax Digital impacts Scottish taxpayers.

AOB and Close 

There was no AOB.

The chair closed the meeting.