Bevvan Foundation tax ideas make it to Assembly budget

Three of the Bevan Foundation’s proposed new, devolved taxes are included in the Welsh Government’s shortlist of four options.

The Bevan Foundation’s recent work on new, devolved taxes identified eight possible new taxes that could help to make Wales fair, prosperous and sustainable. Our ideas were fed into the Welsh Government’s consultation on new taxes, which generated more than 60 different ideas.

The Cabinet Secretary for Finance, Mark Drakeford, announced four possible taxes that the Welsh Government will consider introducing. The Welsh Tax Policy Report, published alongside the draft 2018/19 budget, says:

“The Welsh Government has taken the Bevan Foundation’s report as a starting point for analysing potential new taxes”

It then lists the four options:

• Social care levy: exploring potential financial levers including taxation to support social care provision in Wales.
• A national tax on vacant land: exploring the efficiency of a tax to deliver the
  Welsh Government’s policy objective to bring land identified as suitable for
  development into productive use.
• A tax on disposable plastic to meet environmental objectives: exploring options
  for a tax or levy on disposable plastic to help the Welsh Government to achieve its
  waste reduction and recycling targets.
• A tourism tax to support local businesses: exploring provisions for permissive
  powers for local government taxation.

The Bevan Foundation is delighted that its proposals are accepted by the Welsh Government and looks forward to at least one of them being implemented in due course.