Vacant Land Tax

Part of 1. Questions to the Minister for Finance and Trefnydd – in the Senedd at 2:13 pm on 5 February 2020.

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Photo of Rebecca Evans Rebecca Evans Labour 2:13, 5 February 2020

Yes, I do. I think a vacant land tax is potentially a really exciting tool that we can have in our armoury, if you like, when we're looking to improve our high streets and beyond. I'm really pleased, now, that we seem to be making some progress with the UK Government. It's been quite difficult up to this point, but I think that we are starting to turn a corner. Of course, this is the first time that we've tested out the Wales Act 2017 in terms of devolving powers for us to make taxes within certain areas, and so I think it is important that we get the process right.

But, as Vikki says, the policy objective of a vacant land tax would be to bring idle land back into productive use, and I think it is important as well that we just put on record that we're keen not to have any unintended consequences as well. So, we'll be consulting deeply to ensure that we get the policy right.