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The recommendations of the `Calman Commission' on Scottish Devolution resulted in the largest transfer of financial powers from Westminster since the creation of the United Kingdom, implemented in the Scotland Bill which received Royal Assent in 2012. The independent expert group chaired by Professor Anton Muscatelli were directly influenced by University of Glasgow research on the lack of accountability in the UK devolved system, the potential to extend the use of income taxation as a devolved tax, and the problems in devolving taxes such as VAT, corporation and natural resource tax.
Research at the University of Aberdeen on the economics of North Sea oil and gas activity levels and the potential effects of tax changes on exploration and development decisions — and thus on total investment — have informed government and the oil industry of the virtues of ensuring that the tax system produces the appropriate balance between investment incentives and tax revenues.
In particular this work demonstrated the need to accommodate the differential impact of the tax system across offshore fields located in different geographic regions of the UK Continental Shelf (UKCS) which have varying cost characteristics, and the consequent need for tax allowances to avoid investment disincentives and to promote maximum economic recovery.
Though the individual research agendas have distinctive emphases, the contributions of Aughey, Birrell and Trench have become integral elements in understanding the development of devolution in the United Kingdom (UK). The impact of this work, through engagement with Parliamentary Commissions, Parliamentary and Assembly Committees and policy think tanks, helps define for politicians, administrators, interest groups as well as the general public the relationship between English and British identity, how devolved institutions operate in the context of central government programmes and the options for policy makers in devising financial arrangements which respect devolved autonomy, English interests and UK equity.