The research, conducted by the Scottish Conservatives, reveals that simply by raising the proportion of middle and upper rate taxpayers to the UK average, Scotland would stand to benefit by more than £600 million in extra revenue - around the same as the cost of training 1200 new GPs or building a brand new hospital.
Party leader Ruth Davidson said today that the figures illustrated the need for the SNP to prioritise economic growth in 2017 - starting by ditching its plan to tax people in Scotland more than the rest of the UK.
The analysis comes as new financial powers are set to arrive in the Scottish Parliament in April.
Every penny raised from income tax in Scotland will go straight to Holyrood, to pay for public services here.
Scotland has fewer middle and upper rate additional rate taxpayers per head than the UK average.
The research examines how much extra would be raised in tax if we matched the UK figure.
As the Parliament returns to work this week, the Scottish Conservatives are now calling for the SNP to set out a fresh plan for fair and competitive taxes in order to make Scotland an attractive place to come and live and work.
Scottish Conservative leader Ruth Davidson said:
“Under the new Scotland Act powers which come in this year, funding from schools and hospitals in Scotland will come directly from the pockets of Scottish taxpayers.
“It's the wrong course to demand that taxpayers pay ever more.
“The right way to fund our public services is to focus on increasing jobs, so that more people are paying in.
“Our figures illustrate the kind of windfall we'd get from taking that right course.
“If the number of higher and additional rate taxpayers was raised to the UK average, the Scottish Government would get back more than £600m in extra taxes to spend on our NHS, on new school buildings, or on better roads and rail.
“That illustrates the prize that awaits the SNP government if it gets this right.
“Yet, instead of pushing the case for growth, the SNP is cooking up a dangerous cocktail of high taxes and political uncertainty over a second referendum on independence.
“That is damaging jobs - and it will be local schools and hospitals that will suffer if they don't change course.
“Scotland is now entering a new era and we need to move on from the arguments of the past.
“From this year, it is taxes raised in Scotland that will directly pay for our vital public services.
“Nicola Sturgeon can either act to boost jobs and reap the rewards, or fail to act and drag Scotland backwards.
“This year, the SNP has got the powers to deliver.
“There are no excuses. It is time Nicola Sturgeon and Derek Mackay put the focus on growing the economy, ended the uncertainty over a second referendum and acted to give Scotland the boost we need."