SCOTLAND’S devolved tax collector saw a five-fold increase in fines last year.
Revenue Scotland issued £1.75m worth of notices for charging penalties and interest in 2017-18, compared to just £342,000 the previous year.
As well as fixed £100 fines for late filing of paperwork, the collector can also issue fines for late payment of tax, inaccurate information, and undeclared tax.
The organisation saw the number of disputes raised by taxpayers more than double in response, up from 134 in 2016-17 to 290, most objecting to penalties for late filing.
Overall, “compliance measures” raised £2.37m in back-dated, penalties and interest, compared to £1.95m the year before.
The figures are in the new annual report for Revenue Scotland, which collects the two wholly devolved national taxes - land and buildings transaction tax (LBTT) and Scottish landfill tax.
The accounts show an 11.7 per cent increase in total income, up by £74 to £707m.
The bulk of this came from LBTT, the devolved form of stamp duty, which rose 15.2% to £557m, around £50m more than the budget estimate.
However landfill tax take fell 0.7% to £148m, down £1m.
Revenue Scotland has now collected a total of £1.8bn since it began three years ago.
Public Finances minister Kate Forbes said: “The increase in revenue reported by Revenue Scotland is welcome news and underlines the importance of the fully devolved taxes to Scotland’s economy and our public services.
“These figures show that our progressive approach to taxation is working.”
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