Tax Advisory Group minutes: April 2025

Attendees and apologies

• Aidan O'Carroll, Chair of Revenue Scotland and former Chair of the Institute of Directors in Scotland
• Charlotte Barbour, President of the Chartered Institute of Taxation
• Prof. David Heald, Emeritus Professor in the Adam Smith Business School, University of Glasgow
• Prof. Mairi Spowage, Director of the Fraser of Allander Institute

Apologies 

• Dr. Jim McCormick, Chief Executive of the Robertson Trust
• Dr. Liz Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Chambers of Commerce
• Stuart Adam, senior economist at the Institute for Fiscal Studies
• Cllr. Katie Hagmann, COSLA Resources spokesperson
• Dave Moxham, Deputy General Secretary at the Scottish Trades Union Congress
• Dan Neidle, founder of Tax Policy Associates

Scottish Government

• Lorraine King, Deputy Director, Tax Strategy, Engagement and Performance (Chair)
• Unit Head, Income Tax and Tax Strategy
• Team Leader, Tax Strategy and Reserved Taxes
• Unit Head, Tax Policy Cohesion, Coordination and Capability
• Team Leader, Tax Coordination and Engagement
• Senior Policy Officer, Tax Coordination and Engagement
• Reserved Taxes Policy Officer

Items and actions

Welcome and apologies

Lorraine updated members on the new arrangements for the Tax Advisory Group (TAG). Following discussion with TAG members and the Cabinet Secretary, it has been agreed that meetings in 2025 will be a mix of ministerial and official led. This meeting will be official led by Lorraine, the nominated chair.

Minutes of last meeting

Lorraine asked for confirmation that members were content to issue the minute of November’s meeting. This was agreed with no additional comments by members.

Areas of Research Interest

Lorraine invited colleagues to update on Areas of Research Interest (ARIs) and the discussion questions:

• Is there any ongoing activity in your area which are aligned to the ARIs?
• Are you aware of any other activity, projects or researchers we could consider as part of our engagement strategy?
• Where do you think are the most important priorities across the ARIs?
• Do you have experience engaging with the UKGov ARIs (e.g. HMRC, HMT) and are there any lessons we can learn?
• Do you have any thoughts on how we can most effectively target exploratory funding to encourage or leverage further opportunities?

The discussion between members was wide-ranging and detailed and has been summarised by theme below.

Agreeing terms & literature review

It was highlighted that agreeing definitions of labour, income and wealth taxes was essential to ensure researchers understood the scope of work to be undertaken. It was further noted that property taxes may warrant a separate category.

It was suggested that a good first step would be literature reviews, due to the various strands of research done to date. Compiling this would provide a useful foundation to consider various policy “what if” questions and modelling.

International Research Interest

It was noted that the UK is not always an attractive subject for research due to poor data access. It was highlighted that the various areas of devolved tax policy offered interesting research opportunities, such as income tax divergence.

Data

Data was highlighted as a significant barrier to effective research on tax. It was noted that it is often difficult to separate Scottish data from wider UK data. Similarly, it can be difficult to gather tax data from individual local authorities. Inability to access HMRC data was flagged as a significant barrier. It was also noted that the Scottish Government’s data sharing could be improved.

It was suggested that researchers could compile a set of data requirements to assist policy making. The benefits of a data lab were highlighted and it was agreed this would be considered by officials.

Working with researchers

It was noted that government grant funding often comes with a very short deadline for it to be spent. Researchers often need lead-in time to begin projects, which often don’t fit with grant funding timescales.

When funding isn’t available, consideration needs to be given to other incentives for researchers, such as letters of endorsement from government.

Consideration of other pressures on academic researchers should be considered, particularly teaching commitments and publishing expectations. Longer term relationships with academics and universities are likely to be more fruitful.

Research focus

It was suggested that, given the revenue they raise, Scottish Income Tax, Non-Domestic Rates and Council Tax were the most important taxes to consider for research initially. It was noted that a new government in 2026 will likely wish to consider options in these policy areas.

Lorraine thanked members for a considered and fruitful discussion.

AOB

Lorraine advised members on the date of the next meeting, which will focus on an approach to tax legislation.