Rhanbarth report discussed in the Senedd
Rhanbarth’s Tax and Welfare group’s 2020 report on Land Value Tax (LVT) has received significant coverage over recent weeks. The Welsh Government’s latest consultation on Council Tax reform was launched in November, and whilst this focuses on specific changes to the current Council Tax system, the consultation document makes clear the Welsh Government’s commitment to explore LVT in the longer term. In particular, it notes that:
“We are continuing to explore the potential for a local land value tax as a replacement for both local taxes, building on Bangor University’s detailed technical assessment which we commissioned in 2020. That assessment represented the most detailed work to date considering a local land value tax specifically for Wales, using Welsh data about land valuation. We aim to publish more information on our work by the end of this Senedd term, including potentially a roadmap to implementation and how it could work in practice in Wales.”
The report was subsequently discussed in the Senedd Plenary. Peredur Owen Griffiths MS (Chair of the Senedd Finance Committee) referenced the report’s findings in his challenge to the Minister for Finance and Local Government, Rebecca Evans MS:
“As part of the evidence-gathering process for this Bill, research was conducted by Bangor University into the feasibility of a land value tax in Wales, and the findings showed that a uniform national LVT rate of 1.41 per cent on residential land would be sufficient to raise the same revenues as are currently raised by council tax. But, as was highlighted in the study, the main impediment to introducing such a tax is the lack of effective data systems at the moment, which is a recurring theme across many aspects of governance in Wales. Can I, therefore, ask the Minister what work has been undertaken by the Welsh Government since the publication of the study to address this issue? And what are the practical steps to provide this foundation for an eventual introduction of a LVT in Wales?”
The Minister responded by reiterating the Government’s commitment to “move forward with the findings of that report”.
Our work was also reported upon in the media, including both The Daily Post and ITV’s Sharp End programme (from 03:27).
Dr Rhys ap Gwilym, head of the Tax and Welfare research group in Rhanbarth, noted how pleased the group are to see their report gaining traction. He added, “there is a clear consensus across the main political parties in the Senedd that the current Council Tax and Non-Domestic Rates regimes are structurally flawed but structural changes to the tax system are challenging, particularly for a government that has only recently gained fiscal powers. It’s heartening to see that our report is providing the Government and opposition parties alike with the evidence that they need to develop their fiscal policies”.
The Tax and Welfare group are continuing to work actively in the area of Welsh taxes and will be revising their LVT model over the coming months to provide an update on the 2020 report.
