Financial Year Start "Historic" For Scotland

The first national taxes set in Scotland for more than 300 years will be administered this week.

From Wednesday Revenue Scotland will collect Land and Building Transaction Tax and Scottish Landfill Tax, 

Responsibility over the tariffs were agreed before the cross-party Smith Comission agreement on further devolution following the No vote in September's independence referendum.

More than 2,700 solicitors and conveyancers have signed up for the body'’s online return system, with 26 landfill operators registered or in the process of registering for SLfT.

Chief Executive of Revenue Scotland, Eleanor Emberson, said April 1 will be "a historic day".

She said: It’s taken a lot of work to get to this point, and it’s a testament to the dedication and professionalism of everyone involved in Revenue Scotland that we’ve developed a tax authority from scratch over the last two-and-a-half years. 

"This work would not have been possible without the close co-operation and support of many stakeholders, including the Law Society of Scotland, the Chartered Institute of Taxation and the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland.

“The real work of Revenue Scotland begins now. We are committed to working to the principles laid out by Adam Smith - proportionality, certainty, convenience and efficiency - and that is the service we will provide. We will continue to engage closely with solicitors, tax professionals, landfill operators and others to ensure our service is responsive to their needs and that the devolved taxes are easy to pay and hard to avoid.”

Deputy First Minister John Swinney said Wednesday will be a "significant" day for Scotland.

The Finance Secretary said: "Our approach to establishing new taxes in Scotland has been widely welcomed for both our consultation with those who use the system and our efforts to crack down on tax avoidance and evasion.

“Revenue Scotland has in place a team with expert legal, financial, leadership and operational tax experience and I’d like to thank staff for all their work to ensure everything is in place to manage these new taxes from April 1.

“We will continue to closely monitor Revenue Scotland’s progress in the coming months, but I am confident we have the robust plans in place to ensure smooth delivery of the service.”

Chair of Revenue Scotland, Dr Keith Nicholson added:

“I am immensely proud of everyone at Revenue Scotland for the dedication they have shown in preparing for this launch today. The Board came in at the start of the year and we have been impressed by the robust governance structures in place and the excellent programme management which has helped deliver Revenue Scotland.”