Report on public’s understanding of tax devolution in Wales welcomed by Finance Minister

14 Mar 2019 12:03 PM

A report on the public’s understanding of tax devolution in Wales is published today, ahead of the Finance Minister’s first Tax Advisory Group.

The report highlights the key findings from tax devolution questions that were included in the 2016-17 and 2017-18 National Survey for Wales and last year’s Wales Omnibus Survey.

The key findings of the reports include:

• in 2017-18 the majority of respondents, 67%, said the UK government has the most control over the taxes they pay in Wales, with only 10% saying the Welsh Government did. Younger people were more likely to say they ‘don’t know’ who has most control over the taxes they pay, with 24% of 16-24 year olds saying they ‘don’t know’ compared with 14% aged 35 and above 
• in 2017-18 there was lower awareness of tax on air travel from Wales (47%) and landfill waste tax (42%) compared to other taxes, such as income tax (97%), council tax (98%) and VAT (96%). 
• there was a greater understanding of who controlled taxes such as income tax, council tax and VAT compared to tax for air travel to Wales, with 34% of respondents in 2017-18 incorrectly thinking Welsh Government had control.
• most respondents did not know that the Welsh Government has been able to set some taxes in Wales since April 2018, with 38% saying they were aware that the Welsh Government sets Land Transaction Tax (which replaced Stamp Duty in Wales) and Landfill Disposals Tax (which replaced Landfill Tax in Wales). In the same survey only 24% of respondents said they were aware that Welsh Government would be able to set their own rates of income tax from April 2019.
• across most of these findings respondents aged 35 and over, and qualified to degree level or above were found to have a better understanding of taxes in Wales.

Minister for Finance and Trefnydd, Rebecca Evans said:

“Today’s report provides us with a starting point for measuring  the public’s awareness and understanding of tax devolution in Wales. There is clearly work to be done and we will be using these findings to inform our future engagement on implementing and developing new taxes.

“With the devolution of income tax on 6 April I am committed to developing tax policy in an open and transparent manner, and I encourage people to get involved and help shape our future tax policy.”

The report will be live at 9am on Thursday 14 March, 2019.