Scottish tax take for 2018-19 hits £705m

Revenue Scotland raised £554m in land and buildings transaction tax and £148.5m in Scottish landfill tax in 2018-19, along with £3m interest and penalties – a total of £705m. Since 2015 the authority has collected more than £2.5bn. The department’s compliance activity raised an additional £1.03m.

The figures were revealed in the authority’s 2018-19 annual report and accounts. Revenue Scotland chairman Dr Keith Nicholson said the report also showed the department’s ‘wider achievements’. He said: ‘This included the development of our new online portal for submitting tax returns, producing our first British sign language plan, achieving cyber essentials accreditation to ensure we are protecting taxpayer information and developing the Scottish tax education programme, a bespoke training programme to provide our staff with the right skills and expertise.’