Thank you very much, Llywydd. The committee took evidence from the Minister on these regulations as part of our scrutiny of the draft budget. I will be focusing on LTT tax bands and tax rates regulations.

We heard from the Minister that there were two major decisions for making these regulations: firstly, to increase the rates of tax paid on the higher residential rates in order to generate additional funding to allow further Welsh Government spending, particularly on housing; and secondly, to reduce the amount of tax payable on non-residential transactions, which will provide some support to businesses as they emerge from the pandemic. The Minister told us that these rates were still progressive in terms of the Welsh Government's tax principles. She said that, where possible, announcements relating to tax should be made as part of the draft budget, given that they are linked to the spending commitments in the budget.

This Chamber will recall that the Welsh Government's time frame for making changes to LTT in summer 2020 was dictated by changes made in Westminster, following the UK Government's temporary stamp duty holiday rather than by the budget cycle. The committee therefore welcomes the approach, namely that these regulations have been made as part of the draft budget, given that tax changes are linked to spending commitments. 

The regulations were laid on 21 December and they came into effect the following day. We heard from the Minister that this was perfectly legitimate to limit the opportunities of taxpayers bringing forward transactions to avoid the increase in rates. However, she did recognise the implications of this for solicitors and others involved in property transactions. Whilst we acknowledge that LTT changes may need to be implemented immediately to avoid distorting behaviours, this could be viewed as contrary to the Welsh Government's tax principle, namely enabling stakeholders to plan with certainty.

Finally, we asked the Minister about the power for Welsh Ministers to specify the tax bands and percentage rates in the case of chargeable consideration, which consists of rent for non-residential or mixed leases, as this was not cited in the preamble, as the Minister mentioned, and whether that would have any impact on the validity of the regulations. We note the Minister's words earlier, the Welsh Government's response, which acknowledges that this power is not cited, but does not believe that this alters the effect of the regulations. The Welsh Government has confirmed, however, that for legal clarity, they will make the necessary amendments at the next available opportunity and we urge them to do that as soon as possible. To close, Llywydd, the Finance Committee notes the three sets of regulations.