, Finance Committee
Welsh Tax Acts etc. (Power to Modify) Bill: Evidence session 6
Have you quantified any of that? Have you thought through any of the financial impacts you mention there about—? Have you scenarioed it out? Have you worked out, if something did happen, what the clawback mechanism would be and how much it would actually cost?
, Finance Committee
Welsh Tax Acts etc. (Power to Modify) Bill: Evidence session 6
Okay, thank you. Sorry, Rhianon, for cutting across there.
, Finance Committee
Welsh Tax Acts etc. (Power to Modify) Bill: Evidence session 6
So, the appropriateness element, and I think you touched on it in your answer around people potentially being adversely affected, or other groups, could potentially be used in the other way as well. So, it could be used badly as well as for good, if you like…
, Finance Committee
Welsh Tax Acts etc. (Power to Modify) Bill: Evidence session 6
So, if the Minister thought—not you in particular—something would be 'appropriate', and I might not think it 'appropriate' but 'necessary', because it's proven under that definition of the higher bar as 'necessary', would that be a better—?
, Finance Committee
Welsh Tax Acts etc. (Power to Modify) Bill: Evidence session 6
—'necessary or appropriate', so you could ignore the 'necessary' and go to the 'appropriate', if you thought it was 'appropriate'.
, Finance Committee
Welsh Tax Acts etc. (Power to Modify) Bill: Evidence session 6
But it says—
, Finance Committee
Welsh Tax Acts etc. (Power to Modify) Bill: Evidence session 6
Sorry, Rhianon—am I able to ask just a quick supplementary there? We talked earlier, and in your answer there, around 'appropriate or necessary' or 'necessary or appropriate'. Would it be strengthened by going 'necessary and appropriate'?
, Finance Committee
Welsh Tax Acts etc. (Power to Modify) Bill: Evidence session 6
Thank you. I'll come back to Rhianon to ask some more questions. Thank you.
, Finance Committee
Welsh Tax Acts etc. (Power to Modify) Bill: Evidence session 6
Sorry, Rhianon, I think Mike would like to come in on that point, just for a second.
, Finance Committee
Welsh Tax Acts etc. (Power to Modify) Bill: Evidence session 6
That's okay. [Laughter.]
, Finance Committee
Welsh Tax Acts etc. (Power to Modify) Bill: Evidence session 6
Sorry, I think Andrew wants to come in. Sorry, Rhianon.
, Finance Committee
Welsh Tax Acts etc. (Power to Modify) Bill: Evidence session 6
So, there'd be no—. You wouldn't use any of these powers to change anything to do with the WRA.
, Finance Committee
Welsh Tax Acts etc. (Power to Modify) Bill: Evidence session 6
Okay, thank you. I'll bring Rhianon in now, if I may.
, Finance Committee
Welsh Tax Acts etc. (Power to Modify) Bill: Evidence session 6
Okay. Thank you for that. I'm just going to move on to one more question, and then I'll bring Rhianon in. We're wanting to understand a little bit around what we were just touching upon there with the general anti-avoidance rules and that element. The…
, Finance Committee
Welsh Tax Acts etc. (Power to Modify) Bill: Evidence session 6
Breaking the law.
, Finance Committee
Welsh Tax Acts etc. (Power to Modify) Bill: Evidence session 6
Professor Emyr Lewis told us that the Senedd lock could work in the context of the Bill and would ensure the primacy of the Senedd. I think it's something that Peter was talking about. As the legislature, it would mean the Senedd deciding when the powers…
, Finance Committee
Welsh Tax Acts etc. (Power to Modify) Bill: Evidence session 6
Peter, did you want to come in?
, Finance Committee
Welsh Tax Acts etc. (Power to Modify) Bill: Evidence session 6
Thank you. Witnesses did feel that the Senedd lock that was originally proposed in the consultation document would improve scrutiny and serve as a safeguard against abuse of the powers proposed by the Bill. Do you think that this is a valid observation?
, Finance Committee
Welsh Tax Acts etc. (Power to Modify) Bill: Evidence session 6
Minister, you drew our attention in a previous session to the UK Government's use of resolutions under the Provisional Collection of Taxes Act 1968 as an example of making changes to law quickly, but that involves a resolution of the House of Commons as…
, Finance Committee
Welsh Tax Acts etc. (Power to Modify) Bill: Evidence session 6
Mike.
, Finance Committee
Welsh Tax Acts etc. (Power to Modify) Bill: Evidence session 6
You told us that an alternative emergency Bill approach for changing the Welsh tax Acts wouldn't have the same level of scrutiny as you proposed in the Bill, but couldn't a Bill approach attract whatever scrutiny period is required, depending on the policy…
, Finance Committee
Welsh Tax Acts etc. (Power to Modify) Bill: Evidence session 6
The committee heard evidence suggesting that amendments to tax legislation should be made by primary legislation. What consideration have you given to a fast-track Bill process, and why do you feel that using secondary legislation to change tax law is more…
, Finance Committee
Welsh Tax Acts etc. (Power to Modify) Bill: Evidence session 6
Do you think that the Bill strikes that balance well in the way it is at the moment?
, Finance Committee
Welsh Tax Acts etc. (Power to Modify) Bill: Evidence session 6
Paul Silk mentioned that the Bill is an example of the Executive taking over functions that properly belong to the legislature, and Professor Emyr Lewis told us that the Bill contravenes the principle that the source of important decisions with regard to…
, Finance Committee
Welsh Tax Acts etc. (Power to Modify) Bill: Evidence session 6
Lovely. Gwych. Diolch yn fawr. Thank you very much. We're here to scrutinise the tax Bill and to go through some questions that have been raised from the evidence sessions that we've had with yourselves and with others around this. I'd like to understand, to…
