5. Statement by the Minister for Finance and Trefnydd: Progress on Devolved Taxes

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 5:09 pm on 2 February 2021.

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Photo of Rebecca Evans Rebecca Evans Labour 5:09, 2 February 2021

Thank you very much to John Griffiths for raising that issue. It gives me the chance just to provide examples of how the Welsh Government takes different decisions to the UK Government where we do have the responsibility for taxes.

One is, of course, the land transaction tax. We have the most progressive system here in Wales. Our reliefs aren't just limited to first-time buyers—although the majority of first-time buyers do benefit—actually, we realised that people on relatively modest incomes buying relatively modest properties still need that kind of help, regardless of whether it's the first time that they've bought a home or whether they're moving on to a larger property, or downsizing to something smaller. So, we're keen to see what we can do to use our system to provide help to everybody who needs it. And, again, with the landfill disposals tax, we took a different approach here, and introduced that unauthorised waste level in order to ensure that people who were fly-tipping and so forth paid more as a result of that. Again, I think that that's about fairness. The public awareness of Welsh taxes and public views on Welsh taxes, I think, do support a keenness to have a genuinely progressive system.

And then, just finally, on a potential tourism tax, as I say, it's something that we are just scoping out at the moment in terms of having some discussions with the tourism sector and with local authorities. That work has been paused, if you like, through the pandemic, because clearly there's a time to have those discussions, and with the pressures and stresses felt by the tourism industry, it certainly wasn't the time to have those discussions. But, in future, a tax potentially could be there to support the tourism industry with revenues reinvested in the tourism offer locally. But it could be something, I think, for local authorities to think about on an individual basis. We'll continue to have those discussions to better understand the views of both local authorities and the tourism sector too.