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Every contribution to the Official Report — chamber and committee — searchable in one place. Pulled from data.parliament.scot, indexed for full-text search, linked through to every MSP.

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Showing 60 of 2,354,908 contributions. Latest 30 days: 0. Coverage: 12 May 1999 — 25 Mar 2026.
Gavin Brown Con Chamber
25 Apr 2013
Land and Buildings Transaction Tax (Scotland) Bill: Stage 1
That is helpful, and it is probably the right way to go about it, so I am even more encouraged on licences than I was to begin with.Before I get too carried away, I have to say that I was discouraged—as I have expressed in committee a number of times—to hear about the timing o...
Gavin Brown Con Committee
30 Jan 2013
Land and Buildings Transaction Tax (Scotland) Bill: Stage 1
That is helpful.On sub-sale relief, the Government explained last week why it has not just mirrored exactly the provisions from SDLT. Basically, that is to do with tax avoidance, and the Government seems to have a lot of support on that. However, we have received evidence, inc...
Gavin Brown Con Committee
20 Feb 2013
Land and Buildings Transaction Tax (Scotland) Bill: Stage 1
We have had a lot of discussion on sub-sale relief, so my questions on the issue will be brief, but I want to follow up one point.You have all indicated that you favour retaining sub-sale relief, and you have given examples of why you believe that such a relief is important. Y...
Gavin Brown Con Committee
22 May 2013
Land and Buildings Transaction Tax (Scotland) Bill: Stage 2
You and other witnesses have said that it would be a mistake to lose sub-sale relief entirely. You suggested:“taxpayers should have a choice to use sub-sale relief, or another relief or provision which reduces the amount of duty payable, but not both.”Others have suggested tha...
Gavin Brown Con Committee
23 Jan 2013
Land and Buildings Transaction Tax (Scotland) Bill: Stage 1
I wish to return to the question of sub-sale relief. You gave a comprehensive answer in response to Mr Chisholm’s question as to why you did not replicate the existing provisions in stamp duty land tax. Even those who called for some sub-sale relief in their submissions broadl...
Gavin Brown Con Chamber
25 Apr 2013
Land and Buildings Transaction Tax (Scotland) Bill: Stage 1
The issue was discussed at length in committee and that point was indeed made. I was going to come to Mr Stevenson’s point anyway, but he has brought it slightly forward. The difference is that we are discussing an entirely new tax and an entirely new framework. As was said to...
Gavin Brown Con Committee
23 Jan 2013
Land and Buildings Transaction Tax (Scotland) Bill: Stage 1
I come back to the issue of sub-sale relief, which we heard a number of things about. I think that the position of both groups that are giving evidence today is that, although the Westminster provisions on sub-sale relief should not be replicated exactly, it ought to be done i...
Gavin Brown Con Committee
06 Feb 2013
Land and Buildings Transaction Tax (Scotland) Bill: Stage 1
The Government will almost certainly not just bring in sub-sale relief as a whole, but the door is slightly ajar for some targeted relief, if the case can be made. It has said that it will listen to the conclusions of the committee and stakeholders. If your members believe tha...
Gavin Brown Con Chamber
25 Jun 2013
Land and Buildings Transaction Tax (Scotland) Bill: Stage 3
The objective is to make the business environment as competitive as possible. Amendments 70 and 72 specifically relate to sub-sale relief and forward funding. In my view, that is a potentially important relief. We should reject the aspects that are abused in relation to stamp ...
Gavin Brown Con Committee
27 Feb 2013
Land and Buildings Transaction Tax (Scotland) Bill: Stage 1
That is helpful. Thank you.Pretty much every witness accepted that sub-sale relief has been a vehicle for avoidance over a range of areas. There was also a strong view that there ought to be targeted sub-sale relief. You helpfully outlined your views on that in response to the...
Gavin Brown Con Chamber
25 Jun 2013
Land and Buildings Transaction Tax (Scotland) Bill
Perhaps the cabinet secretary will confirm in his closing speech whether everybody will pay less in terms of the rates that we will face, compared with stamp duty land tax. I would be very interested to hear about that.There is much to commend in the bill but, as I have said, ...
Gavin Brown (Lothian) (Con) Con Chamber
21 Jun 2012
Local Government (Empty Property Relief)
I bring to the chamber our deep concern with a part of the Local Government Finance (Unoccupied Properties) (Scotland) Bill. Our particular concern involves the changes to empty property relief under the non-domestic rates regime. Although the changes will protect industrial p...
Gavin Brown Con Committee
27 Feb 2013
Land and Buildings Transaction Tax (Scotland) Bill: Stage 1
I accept the point that getting an accurate picture will not be easy, but I was comforted by your comments in relation to forward funding, to which you seemed to take a businesslike approach. However, I have a slight fear. In between the tax avoidance under sub-sale relief, wh...
Gavin Brown (Lothian) (Con) Con Committee
06 Feb 2013
Land and Buildings Transaction Tax (Scotland) Bill: Stage 1
Sub-sale relief has been considered in detail, and the Scottish Government has made it clear that it does not want to mirror the provisions in SDLT, for reasons that I think are understandable. The question is whether there can be targeted sub-sale relief, which exempts genuin...
Gavin Brown (Lothians) (Con): Con Chamber
03 Dec 2008
South Edinburgh Suburban Railway
I thank the members of the Scottish Parliament who have stayed behind to take part in and observe this debate on the south Edinburgh suburban railway. I also thank the MSPs who signed the motion that I lodged on 22 May.For some time, the south sub railway has had support acros...
Gavin Brown: Con Chamber
03 Dec 2008
South Edinburgh Suburban Railway
As most members will know, the project is at a slightly less advanced stage than the tram project. The report that Atkins produced in 2004 focused heavily on potential use—I will come on to the numbers that were predicted in that report and in the Halcrow report that was produ...
Gavin Brown Con Chamber
21 Jun 2012
Local Government (Empty Property Relief)
The fundamental point is that the bill will not incentivise owners to put their empty properties back on the market. It will not incentivise anyone to do anything; it will just clobber businesses that cannot get their properties let out.There is widespread concern about the bi...
Gavin Brown Con Committee
23 Jan 2013
Land and Buildings Transaction Tax (Scotland) Bill: Stage 1
Therefore, one approach would be to say that people cannot combine sub-sale relief with other reliefs, but if that approach was not taken and we had to define set ways in which the relief could be used, could that be easily done, or are there dozens of ways in which it could b...
Gavin Brown: Con Committee
18 Nov 2009
Financial Services Inquiry
I appreciate that, but you said that the sale might allow the state aid to be repaid faster. If the insurance market does not grow at the desired speed and the bank is unhappy with the sale price that it might get—you said that it could take up to five years for a sale to go t...
Gavin Brown Con Chamber
23 Feb 2016
Land and Buildings Transaction Tax (Amendment) (Scotland) Bill: Stage 1
I have to say that it has been a fairly short debate. I want to return to the issue of the accidental second-home owner, because I genuinely think that that could be a pretty big problem and one that, both south of the border and here, has not been considered enough. As we ...
Gavin Brown (Lothians) (Con): Con Chamber
03 Feb 2010
Budget (Scotland) (No 4) Bill: Stage 3
We all have to be mindful of the economic context in which the debate takes place. Since stage 1 of the budget bill, a number of economic measures have been published. We learned that unemployment in Scotland has gone up by 8,000. We learned recently that inflation according t...
Gavin Brown Con Chamber
24 Jun 2010
Tourism
It has been an interesting debate. Over the course of it, we have covered a number of issues, a few of which I will pick up on.I will start with the subject of my amendment: the decision on the tax rules for furnished holiday lettings, which is good news for about 5,000 or so ...
Gavin Brown (Lothians) (Con) Con Chamber
22 Apr 2010
Economy
It will come as no surprise to members that the Conservatives do not intend to take any lessons from the Liberal Democrats on any form of taxation scheme. The transitional relief scheme that was hot property for the Liberal Democrats last week was such hot property that it did...
Gavin Brown Con Chamber
24 Nov 2010
Scottish Variable Rate of Income Tax
We hear SNP members mutter that it is no different from 2007; I will tackle that head-on too. The cabinet secretary said that the Government in 2011 will find itself in exactly the same position as the Government that took over in 2007: it would be two years before it could im...
Gavin Brown Con Committee
30 Jan 2013
Land and Buildings Transaction Tax (Scotland) Bill: Stage 1
Homes for Scotland mentioned sub-sale relief in its written submission. Mr Hogg, do you want to expand on that?
Gavin Brown Con Committee
23 Jan 2013
Land and Buildings Transaction Tax (Scotland) Bill: Stage 1
For clarification, can you say whether the Government is still partially open to listening to the idea of having a targeted sub-sale relief, or is its mind closed? Has a full and final decision been made?
Gavin Brown Con Committee
06 Feb 2013
Land and Buildings Transaction Tax (Scotland) Bill: Stage 1
That would be helpful. As it stands, there would be no sub-sale relief—that is the position.
Gavin Brown Con Committee
27 Feb 2013
Land and Buildings Transaction Tax (Scotland) Bill: Stage 1
Are you proactively examining sub-sale relief in the way that you seem to be doing with licences to occupy, or are you literally waiting for the committee report to see our view? Are you doing your own work as well, at the moment?
Gavin Brown (Lothian) (Con) Con Chamber
25 Jun 2013
Land and Buildings Transaction Tax (Scotland) Bill
We welcome the devolution of the tax along with the Land and Buildings Transaction Tax (Scotland) Bill, which we will support at decision time at 5.40. When the cabinet secretary talked about its being the first new tax for well over 300 years, I was reminded of one practition...
Gavin Brown Con Committee
30 Oct 2013
Land and Buildings Transaction Tax (Implementation)
Okay. The answer to my final question might be no, which would be fine. You said in the letter that, on the further policy work on sub-sale relief, there have been two stakeholder meetings, things are progressing and that advice will be provided to the cabinet secretary by the...
Gavin Brown: Con Committee
18 Nov 2009
Financial Services Inquiry
I realise that you have answered various members' questions about RBS's insurance division and that, at this stage, what has been suggested is still only a proposal. However, the justification for the decision to sell off the division was what you called burden sharing—in othe...
Gavin Brown Con Chamber
24 Sep 2014
Referendum Debate
There was a report in the Edinburgh Evening News on Monday regarding the sale of the former Point hotel in Edinburgh, for which a specific clause in the contract had said that the sale of the hotel would go ahead only if the result of the referendum was a no vote. That is just...
Gavin Brown Con Committee
03 Feb 2016
Land and Buildings Transaction Tax (Amendment) (Scotland) Bill: Stage 1
One issue that came up quite a lot this morning was the idea of somebody who does not want to become a second-home owner in any meaningful way. They may be selling a property that is their main residence and looking to buy a new property that will become their new residence, a...
Gavin Brown (Lothian) (Con) Con Chamber
08 Mar 2016
Land and Buildings Transaction Tax (Amendment) (Scotland) Bill: Stage 3
Amendment 17 aims to cure what I think is a serious flaw in the bill. A person who purchases a new main residence, regardless of size, but has not managed to complete the sale of their existing main residence, will have to pay the full tax up front. They will inadvertently bec...
Gavin Brown Con Chamber
04 Nov 2014
Town Centre Action Plan
I am glad that the member agrees with me, because the scheme is his party’s policy and has been pretty much ever since the day he was elected. I remind him of the Scotland Act 2012. He might have missed the draft budget that was published four or five weeks ago, which had powe...
Gavin Brown (Lothians) (Con): Con Chamber
11 Jun 2008
Small Business Bonus Scheme
I, too, declare an interest, in that I run a regional office that will, no doubt, also benefit from the small business bonus scheme.In this speech, I will explain why the Scottish Conservatives are heavily in favour of the small business bonus; explain why I genuinely believe ...
Gavin Brown: Con Chamber
11 Jun 2008
Small Business Bonus Scheme
The benefit amounts to considerably more than £1,000 for some businesses; it can be several thousand pounds over the course of a year, which might help a firm to take on a part-time person. As Mr Gray well knows, a refurbishment requires more than a one-year programme. Somebod...
Gavin Brown Con Chamber
15 Apr 2010
Supporting Business
Not at this stage. I also point out that no Liberal Democrat has taken any of my interventions today.There is a more fundamental issue that we need to consider. Anyone who wants their proposals to be taken seriously needs to cost them. We have heard no suggestion from the Libe...
Gavin Brown Con Chamber
24 Jun 2010
Tourism
Mr Rumbles describes the revaluation as a crisis, so by definition he does not agree with his own front bench that the position at VisitScotland is a crisis for the industry.On Mr Rumbles’s point about revaluation, the crux of the matter is that, if there were to be a transiti...
Gavin Brown Con Chamber
24 Jun 2010
Tourism
I have no principled objection to a transitional relief scheme; it is a matter of practicality. Until a practical solution is put on the table, transitional relief is simply on the wish list from the Liberal Democrats and the Labour Party.
Gavin Brown (Lothians) (Con) Con Chamber
28 Oct 2010
Support for Business
I also congratulate Mr Swinney and his wife on the birth of their son and wish them all the very best in the months and years ahead.As many speakers have said, this is the fourth time that we have discussed this important issue. Although it has been raised and analysed, what i...
Gavin Brown (Lothians) (Con) Con Chamber
04 Nov 2010
Managing Scotland’s Finances
It was courageous of the Scottish Labour Party to wish to debate the issue of managing Scotland’s finances today. It has been a rather different debate from the one that I thought we might get when I saw the rather positive title. We heard the words “George Foulkes” and “bland...
Gavin Brown Con Chamber
08 Dec 2011
Regulatory Framework
Mr Brodie should quit while he is behind, Presiding Officer. I have a quote from Chic Brodie, in the Economy, Energy and Tourism Committee, when he discussed the retail levy in front of the Confederation of British Industry and the Scottish Retail Consortium. He said:“I am sur...
Gavin Brown Con Chamber
10 May 2012
Government Growth Strategy
In our manifesto last year, we said that we would change the criteria for concessionary travel, which we felt would save about £40 million a year. We never proposed to bring in free prescriptions, and we could probably save £37 million a year in that regard. We have given some...
Gavin Brown Con Committee
30 Jan 2013
Land and Buildings Transaction Tax (Scotland) Bill: Stage 1
Finally, I return to Philip Hogg and Homes for Scotland. Another relief that you touched on in your written submission was registered social landlord relief, which I think you thought ought to be broadened slightly to reflect the current marketplace. Again, will you expand on ...
Gavin Brown (Lothian) (Con) Con Committee
25 Jun 2014
Scotland’s Public Finances Post-2014
Your submission says:“Scotland could, in time, consider the attractiveness or otherwise of policies of other countries, for example offering tax relief on work and private pensions contributions based on age”.Will you expand on that? Would younger or older people get more tax ...
Gavin Brown Con Committee
14 Jan 2015
Subordinate Legislation
I have one question that relates to the first instrument, which is SSI 2014/350. The policy note says, right at the end, under the heading “Impact Assessments”, that the Government’s “approach to the prescribed proportions for multiple dwellings relief and acquisition relief ...
Gavin Brown: Con Committee
10 Sep 2008
Scottish Register of Tartans Bill: Stage 2
I have a tremendous amount of sympathy with the proposals behind Mr Whitton's amendment and asked a number of probing questions about the bill in committee and in the chamber at stage 1. On balance, I think that the changes that have been made to the bill, especially the chang...
The Convener Con Committee
21 Sep 2011
Business Gateway Inquiry
I have a quick question for Pamela Stevenson. In her written evidence, she mentions six sub-groups. I am not looking for a response now, but is it possible to let the committee know the make-up of those sub-groups? Some of their work is described, but there is no information o...
Gavin Brown: Con Committee
24 Sep 2008
Credit Crunch (Impact on Scottish Economy)
Some interesting points have been made in the round-table discussion, but I would like to raise a couple of unrelated issues. I do not want to get into a political debate about the Scottish Futures Trust, but I would be grateful if you could tell us what construction inflation...
Gavin Brown: Con Committee
05 Nov 2008
Budget Process 2009-10
You have already answered many questions about the sale of properties and so on. I want clarification on one particular point, however. I refer to the £33 million figure that was mentioned earlier—my understanding is that it comes from the 2009-10 budget. What was your target ...
Gavin Brown (Lothian) (Con) Con Chamber
23 Feb 2016
Land and Buildings Transaction Tax (Amendment) (Scotland) Bill: Stage 1
It appears that, both north and south of the border, the measure is far more complex than it first appeared when it was announced in the autumn statement. I had the voice of former minister Jim Mather ringing in my ears as I reviewed the bill. Mr Mather once said to me, “Gavin...
Gavin Brown Con Chamber
23 Feb 2016
Land and Buildings Transaction Tax (Amendment) (Scotland) Bill: Stage 1
Mr McDonald makes a fair point. We do not have empirical evidence, but there is anecdotal evidence, which we got from a number of witnesses. That is one of the reasons why all members of the committee took the view that the Government should commission specific research on the...
Gavin Brown Con Chamber
08 Mar 2016
Land and Buildings Transaction Tax (Amendment) (Scotland) Bill: Stage 3
I had wished that the period could be far longer than 14 days, but it was pretty apparent at stage 2 that the Government would not support a longer period. It may help if there is a day or two, but—this may be news to Mark McDonald—it is sometimes not possible to get things t...
Gavin Brown: Con Chamber
06 Sep 2007
SCOTTISH EXECUTIVE · Business Rates (Small Businesses)
Given that the proposal was included in the Scottish National Party's manifesto "A new approach: Our first steps", I was hoping for further and better particulars on the matter. On a related angle, is the minister aware that some small town-centre businesses—notably shops—fall...
Gavin Brown (Lothians) (Con): Con Chamber
10 Jan 2008
Spending Review 2007
I have some sympathy with the part of the Labour motion that criticises the Government for the level of detail that we have been given in the budget. Although in some budget lines, such as the line on tourism, the level of detail is identical to the level of detail that the pr...
Gavin Brown: Con Chamber
01 May 2008
United Kingdom Budget
That does not sound to me like all the 5.3 million people concerned are going to be compensated. I did not expect Mr Macintosh to make a policy commitment today, but the fact is that he did. We look forward to hearing how it goes.The Institute for Fiscal Studies makes it quite...
Gavin Brown: Con Chamber
11 Jun 2008
Small Business Bonus Scheme
We heard earlier that, according to its 2007 manifesto, the Labour Party was going to double small business rates relief. Would that have been applied in a blanket way?
Gavin Brown: Con Chamber
10 Feb 2010
Local Government Finance (Scotland) Order 2010
That would give the councils an extra £70 million, but it would put increasing burden and pain on the hard-working families across Scotland who pay council tax. I am pretty sure that residents in David Whitton's constituency would not thank him for suggesting that council tax ...
Gavin Brown Con Chamber
24 Jun 2010
Tourism
Mr Purvis is due to speak at the end of the debate. Why does he not use that opportunity to say how a transitional relief scheme ought to be implemented to try to get members behind his proposition?10:10
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Chamber

Meeting of the Parliament 25 April 2013

25 Apr 2013 · S4 · Meeting of the Parliament
Item of business
Land and Buildings Transaction Tax (Scotland) Bill: Stage 1
Brown, Gavin Con Lothian Watch on SPTV
That is helpful, and it is probably the right way to go about it, so I am even more encouraged on licences than I was to begin with.

Before I get too carried away, I have to say that I was discouraged—as I have expressed in committee a number of times—to hear about the timing of the announcement of the bandings and rates for LBTT. I was not heartened by that at all.

The original plan was to announce them in September 2014, for operation in April 2015. I judge from evidence to the committee that that has led to some uncertainty in the business community, given the absence of any indication of what the rates and bandings will be.

What the cabinet secretary said today—which is similar to what he said in committee—was that there was a range of views that spanned from one week before to two years before. However, that does not reflect what the committee heard, and I invite him to look again carefully at the evidence to the committee from the commercial sector.

I accept the cabinet secretary’s point about the residential sector, as there was evidence from that sector relating to a timescale of one week before. However, almost without exception, every witness from the commercial sector stated that a date of September 2014 would not give the business and commercial sector enough time.

There was a range of views, but they varied between a year and 18 months before September 2014; they did not go up to April 2015 and they were not spread evenly. It was clear to me that the strong view of the business community—from the Law Society of Scotland, the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Scotland, the Scottish Building Federation and many others—was that the announcement should come sooner than September 2014. I think that the sector will be discouraged by what the cabinet secretary has said on that today.

My third item, sub-sale relief, took up a huge amount of the committee’s time. It is an important part of the economy, but I accept that it has in the past led—as I am sure it currently does—to tax avoidance, and the Government must strike a balance between those two aspects. As far as I can recall, no one who gave evidence said that sub-sale relief should be kept exactly as it is, but there was a strong view in the commercial sector that the relief’s wholesale removal was a bit of an overreaction and that there ought to be some exemptions.

I was encouraged by the cabinet secretary’s comments on forward funding, and I hope that progress is made through an amendment at stage 2. However, there are elements of sub-sale relief that are not forward funding and which many or most still consider to be legitimate commercial transactions. I ask the cabinet secretary to look at the subject again to see whether there are areas other than forward funding that could be protected via sub-sale relief without allowing the relief in its entirety to remain as it stands—I accept that it leads to a degree of tax avoidance.

There is a balance to be struck, but I am slightly concerned that, taken together with some of what we have heard today, removing the relief tips the balance slightly away from being competitive. I hope that that issue can be revisited.

In the same item of business

The Deputy Presiding Officer (John Scott) Con
Good afternoon. The first item of business this afternoon is a stage 1 debate on motion S4M-06294, in the name of John Swinney, on the Land and Buildings Tra...
The Cabinet Secretary for Finance, Employment and Sustainable Growth (John Swinney) SNP
The Scotland Act 2012 devolves responsibility for taxes on land and property transactions and disposal to landfill to the Scottish Parliament from April 2015...
Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con) Con
I am a member of the Public Audit Committee, which has been looking into the Auditor General for Scotland’s report on Registers of Scotland’s IT system. Para...
John Swinney SNP
I would describe the position as work in progress. As I set out to Parliament last June, Registers of Scotland will be the collection organisation for the ne...
Kenneth Gibson (Cunninghame North) (SNP) SNP
I am pleased to highlight key areas that the Finance Committee considered following its stage 1 evidence taking.The Scotland Act 2012 devolves a range of tax...
Ken Macintosh (Eastwood) (Lab) Lab
The land and buildings transaction tax is, I believe, Scotland’s first new tax in 300 years. It stems from the conclusions of the Calman commission, establis...
John Mason (Glasgow Shettleston) (SNP) SNP
Will the member take an intervention?
Ken Macintosh Lab
I hope that Mr Mason can demonstrate a sense of humour.
John Mason SNP
Does the member accept that, if the overall indication is that the effect will be broadly neutral, the room for manoeuvre is not huge? The position is not th...
Ken Macintosh Lab
Indeed. I was just about to suggest to the cabinet secretary that, if he indicates to the committee and to Parliament when he has agreed on a date, so that w...
John Swinney SNP
The point that I advanced at the committee is that I was not persuaded by a relief for a property transaction whereby the purchaser got the benefit of an inv...
Ken Macintosh Lab
I welcome the cabinet secretary’s approach. I have sympathy for the non-renewal of a scheme for which there were no successful applications in Scotland.Howev...
Mike MacKenzie (Highlands and Islands) (SNP) SNP
Does the member accept that, given the progressive nature of the tax, the proposed measure would help those who are further up the ladder more? Those are the...
Ken Macintosh Lab
Mr MacKenzie raises an interesting point about our desire as a country to reduce carbon emissions. If carbon emissions on larger homes are greater, we need t...
Gavin Brown (Lothian) (Con) Con
The Scottish Conservatives support the general principles of the bill and we will vote for it at decision time. Much of the bill and much of what the cabinet...
John Swinney SNP
I confirm that there will be an indication of the licences that are included in the scope. The bill will specify which licences will be covered rather than s...
Gavin Brown Con
That is helpful, and it is probably the right way to go about it, so I am even more encouraged on licences than I was to begin with.Before I get too carried ...
The Deputy Presiding Officer Con
We now move to the open debate. I call Jamie Hepburn, to be followed by Malcolm Chisholm. We are a bit tight for time, so I give Mr Hepburn up to six minutes...
Jamie Hepburn (Cumbernauld and Kilsyth) (SNP) SNP
I welcome this stage 1 debate. The bill is, of course, the first of three bills arising as a consequence of the Scotland Act 2012, and I look forward to scru...
The Deputy Presiding Officer Con
You have 30 seconds.
Jamie Hepburn SNP
The block grant will be reduced on a one-off basis for LBTT. We have to get that right. I say to Mr Macintosh that how fairly the Treasury plays on the matte...
Malcolm Chisholm (Edinburgh Northern and Leith) (Lab) Lab
I am pleased to take part in this landmark debate, in which we are considering a tax bill for the first time in the history of the Scottish Parliament. I hop...
Stewart Stevenson (Banffshire and Buchan Coast) (SNP) SNP
Although it closes a loophole, on 21 March 2012, the Chancellor of the Exchequer announced that, with immediate effect, there would be a 15 per cent stamp du...
Malcolm Chisholm Lab
That is a fair point and I would not disagree.Ensuring that there is no tax avoidance is an important aspect of the bill. The general provision, which will b...
John Mason (Glasgow Shettleston) (SNP) SNP
It is encouraging that there is widespread welcome for the replacement of SDLT with a simpler and more progressive tax, and especially for the replacement of...
Neil Findlay (Lothian) (Lab) Lab
Given that John Mason has expressed his excitement about today, will he express some contrition about opposing the Calman commission and the Scotland Act 201...
John Mason SNP
That question is not quite on subject. Given that Calman proposed a system of block grant reduction that would have damaged Scotland, I have to say that I am...
Michael McMahon (Uddingston and Bellshill) (Lab) Lab
This is not the first time I have taken part in a stage 1 debate in which there has been very little to say that has not been said already by the time I have...
Mark McDonald (North East Scotland) (SNP) SNP
I rise as a former member of the Finance Committee. Although I was not part of the stage 1 deliberations on the Land and Buildings Transaction Tax (Scotland)...
Alison McInnes (North East Scotland) (LD) LD
I, too, welcome today’s stage 1 debate on the first of a series of bills that are being introduced as a result of a number of tax-raising powers being devolv...