The Welsh government has announced plans to form a new Welsh tax authority, solely to deal with Welsh tax collection.
As of 2018, the Welsh Revenue Authority will be specifically in charge of setting and collecting both Wales’ landfill tax, and the Welsh Land Transaction tax; the latter is being brought in to replace stamp duty in Wales.
These devolved taxes are important assets in Welsh funding, with landfill tax raising £51million a year and stamp duty raising a staggering £168million a year. Without either of these devolved taxes, Wales would find its public spending slashed by over £200million a year.
The name of the new tax authority was unveiled by Finance Minister Jane Hutt, who has made it known that she wishes for Wales to experience a ‘smooth transition to the new taxes in 2018, with as little disruption for taxpayers as possible’.
Ms Hutt went on to state that the incentive behind the new Welsh Revenue Authority was to create arrangements ‘that will enable taxpayers to comply with their obligations as straightforwardly as possible’.
The Welsh Revenue Authority will be working alongside HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) in collecting property-related tax, and will work with Natural Resources Wales when dealing with landfill tax collections.
The move is expected to appease those calling for more devolution to Wales, who have so far been seen to be left out of EU-based plans by England, in favour of perceived pandering to Scotland.
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