Background to the report

The Scotland Act 2016 gave the Scottish Parliament full power to determine the rates and thresholds (excluding the personal allowance) paid by Scottish taxpayers on all non-savings, non-dividend income from 6 April 2017. HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) administers and collects Scottish income tax as part of the UK tax system. HM Treasury is responsible for the payment of Scottish income tax to the Scottish Government.

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Following the end of each tax year, HMRC produces a provisional estimate of the Scottish income tax revenue for that year. The final outturn is calculated in the following year once HMRC has received further information from taxpayers and employers. This report covers the final outturn for 2018-19, as well as HMRC’s provisional estimate for 2019-20.

Content and scope of the report

The NAO has statutory responsibilities for auditing HMRC’s collection of Scottish income tax. This report considers:

  • HMRC’s calculation of the 2018-19 income tax revenue attributable to Scotland, the ‘outturn’, and provides assurance on the correctness of the amounts brought to account (Part One);
  • HMRC’s estimate of the 2019-20 income tax revenue attributable to Scotland and our view on the methodology used to estimate the amount (Part One);
  • key controls operated by HMRC in the assessment and collection of income tax (Part Two);
  • HMRC’s approach to assessing and mitigating the risk of non-compliance with Scottish tax requirements (Part Two); and
  • the cost of administering Scottish income tax – we provide assurance on whether the amounts are accurate and fair in the context of the costs incurred by HMRC (Part Three).

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