Big Tax Debate in Edinburgh

When I saw the title of this event co-hosted in Edinburgh last night by the Chartered Institute of Taxation and the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland, I wasn’t sure if ‘Big’ was an adjective referring to Scottish Taxes or the greatness of the Debate. It turned out to be both. We had a superb panel chaired by Rona Dougall, the anchor of the ‘Scotland Tonight’ TV programme, including:

·        Adam Tomkins MSP – Deputy Convener of the Scottish Parliament’s Finance and Constitution Committee and Scottish Conservative MSP for Glasgow,

·        Tom Arthur MSP - Member of the Finance and Constitution Committee and SNP MSP for Renfrewshire South,

·        Robin McAlpine – Director, Common Weal think-tank, and

·        Katrine Bussey – Political Editor, Press Association Scotland

Much of the debate focused on the impact of Scottish taxes being higher than the rest of the UK, in terms of sustainability and the risk of migration. The pros and cons of devolution of corporation tax were discussed together with the increasing importance of local council taxation. The results of the latest Brexit vote at Westminster arrived during the event and panellists took the opportunity to share their predictions of where that debate would, or should, end up. I was left thinking that to answer that question would require the skills of a clairvoyant, rather than a political commentator…