More than half of Scots say income tax rates don't provide value for money

New poll finds just 28 per cent believe the level of personal tax in Scotland provides value for money

More than half (54 per cent) of people in Scotland believe they do not get value for money from public services, despite higher earners paying more income tax here than elsewhere in the UK.

According to a new poll for strategic advisory firm True North, just over a quarter (28 per cent) of people believe the level of personal tax in Scotland provides value for money in public services.

As part of the same survey, which was undertaken by Survation, more than half (51 per cent) of people in Scotland thought the Scottish Government does not have the right policies in place to make Scotland a competitive place to do business.

Picture: John Devlin

The poll results come ahead of the Programme for Government – where First Minister Humza Yousaf will set out his priorities for the coming year – and amid calls from across business and industry for the Scottish Government to prioritise sustainable economic growth.

Sandy Begbie, chief executive of Scottish Financial Enterprise, said: “The need to achieve sustainable economic growth has never been so apparent. The coming Programme for Government is an opportunity for ministers to introduce pro-business, pro-growth policies that will help create an environment that will attract more investment, more high-quality jobs and support businesses to grow and thrive.

“The imperative of delivering sustainable, inclusive growth should not be viewed as a contentious issue, but as a collective national ambition. As this poll shows, our ability to improve the quality, provision and funding of public services and enable a long-term rise in living standards, particularly for those in lower and middle-income households who have been hardest hit by the cost-of-living crisis, can only be achieved if we support Scotland’s business community and successfully increase our tax base.”

Andrew Liddle, a senior adviser at True North, said: “Scotland’s workers have the highest income tax burden in the UK, but these figures show most people think they are paying more and getting less.”

The Scottish Government said it had implemented the fairest income tax system in the UK while raising extra revenue, adding: "This enables us to provide public services and support that do not exist elsewhere in the UK."