Meeting of the Parliament 19 August 2014
If that was John Mason being optimistic about the tax system, I hope that I am not here on the day when he is pessimistic.
Quite rightly, this has been a broadly consensual debate, with little to divide the chamber, either at stage 2 or at stage 3.
I was struck by something that the cabinet secretary said earlier. He pointed out just how much subordinate legislation will have to flow from not only this bill but the other tax bills that we passed earlier this year and at the end of last year. For all three, there is bound to be a raft of legislation. In some ways, today is only a starting point. There is more work to be done than we have done so far, and all of it has to be completed by 1 April next year. There is a huge amount to be done over the coming months by the Government, the Parliament and all those who are involved in taxation in Scotland.
Probably the first true test of revenue Scotland’s performance and way of doing business will involve the charter to which the cabinet secretary referred. Under section 10 of the bill, revenue Scotland has to create a charter of standards and values. As I indicated earlier, the section has been boosted by bringing in reciprocity between revenue Scotland and taxpayers. In pulling the charter together, revenue Scotland is to consult those whom it thinks are relevant. That will be its first challenge: how will it consult on what the charter ought to look like, who will it consult and will it take a proactive or a reactive approach? Everybody will be watching very carefully, because how the charter is constructed will tee up how revenue Scotland performs over the coming years.
I do not know whether there is information on this at the moment, but if the cabinet secretary has any information on the timing of the consultation on the charter we would certainly welcome hearing it in the chamber today.
I have a couple of other points to bring up. Section 3 refers to revenue Scotland’s resolution of disputes with taxpayers. The section contains the phrase “including by mediation”. Individual cases between taxpayers and revenue Scotland will clearly be operational matters and decisions on them will, quite rightly, be for revenue Scotland to take. However, I wonder whether including that phrase is a hint or a steer from the Government that, as a policy, it would like to see mediation being used by revenue Scotland. Perhaps I have read too much into that. I would certainly welcome any clarification on it from the Government.
A couple of members have talked about the block grant adjustment mechanism. This is not strictly and directly part of the stage 3 debate, but the cabinet secretary gave evidence to the Finance Committee last Wednesday about how things have moved forward in that regard. Perhaps the answer to this question is no, given that that was only a week ago, but has anything happened in the interim period and is there anything else that the cabinet secretary can share with the Parliament, so that we can see that process moving forward as fast as possible? That adjustment mechanism must be sorted out in the coming months, but everything else underpinning the bill—and indeed the other two tax bills—must be in place by 1 April next year. There is much for us all to do in the coming months.
16:27