Tax Advisory Group minutes: February 2026

Attendees and apologies

• Prof. David Heald, Emeritus Professor in the Adam Smith Business School, University of Glasgow
• Prof. Mairi Spowage, Director of the Fraser of Allander Institute
• Stuart Adam, Senior Economist at the Institute for Fiscal Studies
• Aidan O'Carroll, Chair of Revenue Scotland and former Chair of the Institute of Directors in Scotland

Apologies

• Charlotte Barbour, President of the Chartered Institute of Taxation
• Cllr. Katie Hagmann, COSLA Resources spokesperson
• Dave Moxham, Deputy General Secretary at the Scottish Trades Union Congress
• Dr. Jim McCormick, Chief Executive of the Robertson Trust
• Dr. Liz Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Chambers of Commerce
• Dan Neidle, founder of Tax Policy Associates

Scottish Government

• Shona Robison MSP, Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Local Government
• Lucy O'Carroll, Director for Tax
• Unit Head, Income Tax and Tax Strategy
• Team Lead, Tax Communications and Engagement
• Tax Policy Officials

Items and actions

Welcome and apologies

The Cabinet Secretary welcomed members and noted apologies from Jim McCormick, Dave Moxham, Charlotte Barbour, Liz Cameron, and Katie Hagmann.

Minutes of the last meeting

The Cabinet Secretary asked for confirmation that members were content to issue the minute of the meeting from October 2025. This was agreed with no additional comments by members.

Opening remarks

The Cabinet Secretary noted that this would be the final TAG meeting, and thanked members for their engagement with, and contribution to, this process during this parliamentary session. She outlined an overview of TAG activities and outputs since its inception in 2023, including contributions to the Scottish Government’s Tax Strategy, published in December 2024.

UK Budget (November 2025) and Scottish Government Budget (January 2026) - tax implications

The Director for Tax provided an overview of the tax policy decisions confirmed as part of the recent UK and Scottish Budgets. A discussion followed, with a particular focus on Income Tax, Council Tax, and Non-Domestic Rates (NDR).

The discussion extended to cover learnings from the TAG since its first meeting in July 2023, with the Cabinet Secretary inviting members to provide their reflections on the TAG to officials following the meeting. 

Update on Scottish Government’s Tax Strategy

The Scottish Government’s Unit Head for Income Tax and Tax Strategy offered to engage with members on any questions they may have on this matter via email. 

Any other business (AOB)

The Cabinet Secretary once again thanked members for their time and input, and, noting no AOB, closed the meeting.