Questions Without Notice from Party Spokespeople

Part of 1. Questions to the Minister for Finance and Trefnydd – in the Senedd at 1:43 pm on 3 April 2019.

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Photo of Rebecca Evans Rebecca Evans Labour 1:43, 3 April 2019

I realise your primary concern here relates to non-residential land transaction tax, and, of course, we have a lower starting rate of tax for the purchase of business premises here in Wales than under stamp duty land tax, and this means that all businesses purchasing premises up to £1.1 million in Wales either pay no tax at all or they pay less than they would under stamp duty land tax. This really does benefit small and medium-sized businesses across the country.

In the first year of land transaction tax it's estimated that around nine out of 10 transactions would pay either no LTT or the amount would be less than it would have been under SDLT for non-residential transactions. So, I think that actions that we've taken certainly are beneficial to small and medium-sized enterprises. I do understand the concern over the additional 1 per cent that there is for the higher rate. However, I think that it is far too early in the day to make a conclusion as to what, if any, impact that had on behaviour, and it's also worth bearing in mind that the year before LTT came in was an exceptional year in terms of tax take or in terms of transactions on those higher properties. So, I think that it's something that we are watching closely. We'll have the outturn figures in June of this year, so we'll have a better understanding of at least the first year's behaviour.