The Impact of COVID-19 on Local Taxation Policy

Part of 4. Questions to the Minister for Finance and Trefnydd – in the Senedd at 12:47 pm on 1 July 2020.

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Photo of Nick Ramsay Nick Ramsay Conservative 12:47, 1 July 2020

Caroline Jones has focused on the council tax aspect of the local taxation issue. If I can focus on the business rates side of things, the Welsh Conservatives have long called for a whole look at the structure of business rates in Wales and business rates support, and the possibility of taking businesses with a rateable value of less than £15,000 out of paying altogether.

Minister, I appreciate that at the moment it's a very careful balancing act that you've got to do, between making sure that local authorities have the right level of taxation and that businesses are supported. Can I ask, as we come out of the pandemic and come out of the lockdown, that you do look again at the way that business rates work in Wales, so that those businesses that need as much money as possible at the moment to invest in the future and to employ people will be able to do so? And I think that a look at the whole business rate regime and easing the burden on businesses is one way that you can do that.