The current UK tax system is not fit for purpose in Scotland. It is vital that during the transition period new systems for managing tax in Scotland be put in place. Taxes will need to be placed on a variety of sources and some of these will need extensive consideration. The tax and benefit systems must be integrated.
The task of creating an appropriate tax system for Scotland will be a big one and a challenge to complete within the likely three-year transition period. The first task that must be undertaken during the period of transition – from the day Scotland votes for independence to the day it achieves it – is to create the tax system that will address the failings in a tax system which might otherwise be inherited from the UK. The second task will be to make more detailed changes that reflect Scotland's social values and this work will have to continue long after independence is achieved. The challenges in achieving these goals will be significant but social and economic justice in postindependence Scotland does, in no small part, depend upon them being achieved.
Scottish Independence Convention (SIC) Transition Paper No. 5 Taxation.