Tax Authority Boss Faces Grilling

The head of Revenue Scotland will face questions from two Holyrood committees today after a critical report on the progress of the body.

Eleanor Emberson is due to appear before MSPs on the Public Audit and Finance committees to give evidence on preparations for the new tax authority.

Last week Audit Scotland published a report on the Scottish Government's progress in preparing for control of new powers in the Scotland Act 2012.

Revenue Scotland is being set up to collect the Land and Buildings Transaction Tax, which replaces the current stamp duty, and the Scottish Landfill Tax from April 2015.

The report found that delays in hiring staff and procuring an IT system to collect and administer the new devolved taxes have increased the risk that they will not be ''effectively managed'' when they come into force.

This could result in tax payments taking longer to process and increased costs of collection, it said.

Liberal Democrat leader Willie Rennie has suggested that Ms Emberson may have misled Parliament in previous evidence given to the finance committee.

According to the Scottish Parliament's Official Report of proceedings, she told MSPs on November 26: There has been a lot of progress but there is nothing negative that I need to report.''

The Public Audit Committee will also take evidence from the Auditor General for Scotland, Caroline Gardner, and Alyson Stafford, director general of finance at the Scottish Government, on the report's findings.

Scottish Government spokesman said: The Finance Committee last week asked the Head of Revenue Scotland Eleanor Emerson to give evidence and she will be pleased to do so on Wednesday.

Revenue Scotland is on track to manage collection of the new devolved taxes from April 2015. Establishing a new tax collection agency is a major operation and Revenue Scotland has staff and plans in place to ensure smooth delivery of the new service.''