8. 7. Debate: Considering the Case for New Taxes in Wales

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 5:49 pm on 4 July 2017.

Alert me about debates like this

Photo of Huw Irranca-Davies Huw Irranca-Davies Labour 5:49, 4 July 2017

No, no. Innovation tax credits taking over from where we are with the research and development tax credits, to make good the shortfall we have in Wales in terms of innovation and R&D; a workforce development levy, which would, in effect, take over from the apprenticeship levy—and we know some of the difficulties with that, and we would take control; and the other ones laid out, but let’s throw a couple of other ones in here.

The social care one has already been mentioned. I think that is worthy of looking at, but it is a hefty one to actually test the machinery on. The vacant land levy, I think, is fascinating because we all know the amount of not only land backed by investor communities, but derelict properties on that land that are left as an eyesore. What about tax relief for democratic engagement? The point that was made in actually getting more people to engage in the democratic process: maybe we should be incentivising them to do it by some sort of tax relief for democratic engagement if they participate in elections. What about a windfarm windfall? Because some of the windfarms that were set up 20 or 25 years ago give, frankly, diddly-squat to the communities that they’re in. Maybe you should be looking at those for those older historic windfarms that are reaping the dividends now. What about an out-of-town development levy to promote high-street regeneration and subsidise free parking? What about a minerals and opencast levy to fund the remediation of those opencast and quarries? What about a flood alleviation or climate change adaptation levy on larger land owners to promote investment in water catchment management schemes and flood prevention? Now, I have to say, those are not all—. I said about unintended consequences, I talked about avoiding regressive taxes, avoiding non-devolved issues; I say that none of those—. Mark, just in case you’re going to put them out in a press release, none of those are firm proposals. I’d want them all checked through, first of all. But we should be looking for the right one to test this, so that we end up with a tax for the common good. There is a reason to do taxes, and if they change behaviour or they actually make better the environment we live in—or the standard of living that we have—then that’s a good reason for a tax.