Taxation, government spending and the public finances of Scotland: updating the medium term outlook

The potential consequences of independence for taxation, public services, and the welfare system in Scotland are a key battleground in the ongoing campaigning ahead of the independence referendum this September. This briefing note provides a summary of the key findings of recent IFS research on Scotland, including the medium-term outlook for Scotland's public finances. In doing this, it also updates the figures to take into account the latest data on taxation and spending contained in the Scottish government’s latest Government Expenditure and Revenues Scotland (GERS) publication covering 2012–13; and updated forecasts from the Office for Budget Responsibility’s (OBR) March 2014 Economic and Fiscal Outlook.

Additional data relating to section 4 are available here.