The CIOT has responded to the Northern Ireland Department of Finance consultation on devolution of more fiscal powers. Key points include:
the practical impact of tax devolution on taxpayers (e.g. increased complexity), agents and tax authorities needs to be considered;
awareness of existing devolved taxes (and indeed taxes generally) is low, and significant effort will be needed to meet the Commission’s recommendation that people should ‘understand the rates of tax being charged by the NI Assembly, the UK government, and how they interact’;
among several key considerations when determining taxes suitable for devolution, the most important is to ensure that the object of the tax is in Northern Ireland (or clearly connected with Northern Ireland), rather than anywhere else;
as for Scotland and Wales, devolution of taxes should start with ‘physical’ type taxes such as landfill tax and stamp duty land tax; and
a Northern Ireland Revenue Authority would need to be established to administer the devolved taxes.
The CIOT has responded to the Northern Ireland Department of Finance consultation on devolution of more fiscal powers. Key points include:
the practical impact of tax devolution on taxpayers (e.g. increased complexity), agents and tax authorities needs to be considered;
awareness of existing devolved taxes (and indeed taxes generally) is low, and significant effort will be needed to meet the Commission’s recommendation that people should ‘understand the rates of tax being charged by the NI Assembly, the UK government, and how they interact’;
among several key considerations when determining taxes suitable for devolution, the most important is to ensure that the object of the tax is in Northern Ireland (or clearly connected with Northern Ireland), rather than anywhere else;
as for Scotland and Wales, devolution of taxes should start with ‘physical’ type taxes such as landfill tax and stamp duty land tax; and
a Northern Ireland Revenue Authority would need to be established to administer the devolved taxes.
