Tax Advisory Group meeting: 11 February 2016

Tax Advisory Group

• Jane Hutt AM, Minister for Finance and Government Business (Chair)
• Andrew Evans, Geldards
• Leighton Jenkins on behalf of Emma Watkins, CBI
• Janet Jones and Rhodri Evans, Federation of Small Businesses
• Ruth Marks, Wales Council for Voluntary Action (WCVA)
• David Phillips, Institute for Fiscal Studies
• Kay Powell, The Law Society
• Martin Warren, The Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW, Wales)
• Victoria Winckler, Bevan Foundation

Presenters

• Laura McAllister, Chair, Sport Wales (in attendance for the WRA Board Membership item)
• Adele Baumgardt, Vice Chair, Sport Wales (in attendance for the WRA Board Membership item)

Officials in attendance

• Andrew Jeffreys, Director, Treasury
• Jeff Andrews, Specialist Policy Adviser
• Georgina Haarhoff, Head of Tax Policy and Legislation Management
• Claire McDonald, Project Manager for the implementation of the Welsh Revenue Authority
• Richard Clarke, Tax Administration Project Manager
• Ed Sherriff, Head of Fiscal Strategy
• Jo Berry, Strategic Communications and Engagement Officer
• James Price, SRO - Deputy Permanent Secretary, Economy, Skills and Natural Resources
• Laura Offside (Secretariat)

1. The Minister for Finance and Government Business welcomed attendees to the 7th meeting of the Tax Advisory Group (TAG) for Wales. The minister noted that apologies had been received from Emma Watkins, Martin Mansfield, Frank Haskew and Robert Lloyd Griffiths. The Minister welcomed Laura McAllister and Adele Baumgardt from Sports Wales who were attending the meeting to provide a presentation on diversity on public sector boards.

2. The Minister briefly outlined developments since the last meeting which included the following points:

• The Tax Collection and Management (TCM) Bill has now completed stage 2. Subject to final approval by the Assembly, Royal Assent should be achieved in April this year.
• Discussions with the UK government continue on important aspects of the fiscal reform agenda.
• Dyfed Alsop, currently Chief Strategy Officer at the Valuation Office Agency, has been appointed as the Welsh Revenue Authority (WRA) Implementation Director, and will start in his post in Summer 2016.

3. The note of the previous TAG meeting had been circulated to members prior to the meeting and all actions had been completed. The group confirmed the note was an accurate summary of the discussion.

4. Ed Sherriff provided an update on the recent intergovernmental talks, including the outcome of the UK government’s Spending Review, and the latest positions on fair funding and devolution of Air Passenger Duty.

5. Georgina Haarhoff provided an update on the progress made with the TCM Bill, the Land Transaction Tax (LTT) Bill, the Landfill Disposals Tax (LDT) Bill, and the latest Treasury paper.

6. The TCM Bill had passed stage 2 and was on track to receive Royal Assent by early April. The Bills for LTT and LDT would be introduced after the Assembly election, if agreed by the new Welsh Government. Rates and bands for the new taxes would be decided closer to April 2018.

7. Claire McDonald introduced this item on WRA Board membership and composition. Professor Laura McAllister and Adele Baumgardt from Sport Wales presented to the group about their experiences of recruiting onto their board, how they increased diversity and improving the board’s effectiveness.

8. Richard Clarke presented a summary on the Taxpayers' Charter and the work undertaken to date. He asked the group for comment and feedback on the survey questions that had been developed.

9. Victoria Winckler provided an update on the Bevan Foundation's project to identify ideas for possible new devolved taxes. The project was coming towards a close. The Bevan Foundation's website and social media were now being used to float ideas. The final report on the new taxes project would be launched after the National Assembly election.