4. Will the Minister make a statement on the impact of the land transaction tax in Wales? OAQ53710

Current land transaction tax rates and thresholds mean the vast majority of taxpayers pay the same or less tax than under stamp duty land tax. Outturn data for the first year will be considered once published by the Welsh Revenue Authority in June. Evidence indicates that taxpayers receive a high-quality service from the WRA.

Thank you very much for the reply, Minister, but the Federation of Small Businesses in Wales recently published a report on creating a new tax system in Wales. When referring to the land transaction tax, the FSB found that many solicitors raised concerns about the properties close to or straddling the English border. They claim that they have difficulty working out which side of the border a property is on, because there is very little information on the definitive position of the boundary line. Several solicitors call for a straightforward way of quickly identifying whether a property is in England or Wales, preferably through the Welsh Revenue Authority website. Will the Minister agree to look into this matter and see what can be done to address the concerns of solicitors dealing with border properties?

I'll certainly look into any remaining concerns that exist, but I would hope that since the FSB undertook its research back in August those issues have now satisfactorily been resolved. But if there are individual cases where there remains concern, I'd be happy to take those cases up.