8. 7. Debate: The General Principles of the Land Transaction Tax and Anti-avoidance of Devolved Taxes (Wales) Bill

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 6:34 pm on 10 January 2017.

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Photo of Mark Drakeford Mark Drakeford Labour 6:34, 10 January 2017

Diolch yn fawr, Ddirprwy Lywydd. Can I thank all Members who have taken part in what has been I think a very constructive and interesting debate? My starting point is the one that Nick Ramsay set out. Whether you regard tax devolution as a matter of high excitement or deep trepidation, it’s going to happen and our job is to prepare for it and to do that in a way that is as careful and as competent as we can make it.

In framing this piece of legislation, the priorities that I have followed have been the ones that others have set out in the debate. First of all, continuity—that was the key message from stakeholders. On the day that this law comes into being, they want it to be recognisably the law with which they are familiar already, and we constructed the law in order to deliver that.

A second principle, though, is that, while providing for continuity, we also want to improve the accessibility of the law in this area. We’ve drawn together, under the one Bill, a series of disparate parts of existing law to make them more comprehensible and more accessible.

Then, thirdly, in the way that Adam Price set out, we’ve designed the Bill in a way that allows for the possibility of greater differentiation in the future. That’s why the Bill has this combination of powers on the face of the Bill and regulation-making powers. I’m grateful for what Huw Irranca-Davies said about endorsing that balance, because it would allow the National Assembly, in the future, to differentiate the way we do these things in Wales, as matters develop.

Taking on responsibilities for the first time in 800 years is undoubtedly challenging; it leads to some maters of complexity, which you’ve heard this afternoon. I see that Adam Price didn’t put to you the conundrum he put to me about the person who owns a property along the border that has a river that meanders in and out of Wales and wishes to sell the fishing rights on one part of a bank and where will they be when this legislation comes into being? Well, that’s what Stage 2 will be all about: working out some of those details, provided, of course, the Assembly is prepared to give the go-ahead this afternoon.

A number of Members have reminded us that this is a Bill about anti-avoidance measures as well as about land tax itself. I would have to say to Mark Reckless that, actually, I do want this Bill to send out a message that, when taxation is devolved to Wales, the National Assembly is not going to be a soft touch in any way as far as tax avoidance is concerned, albeit that we construct the Bill itself in a way that is careful and proportionate.