The next item of business is stage 3 proceedings on the Aggregates Tax and Devolved Taxes Administration (Scotland) Bill. In dealing with the amendments, members should refer to the bill as amended at stage 2—that is, SP bill 38A—the marshalled list and the groupings of amendments. The division bell will sound and proceedings will be suspended for around five minutes for the first division of stage 3. The period of voting for the first division will be 45 seconds; thereafter, I will allow a voting period of one minute for the first division after a debate.
Members who wish to speak on any group of amendments should press their request-to-speak button or type RTS in the chat function as soon as possible after I call the group.
Members should now refer to the marshalled list of amendments.
Section 17—Scottish aggregates tax register
Group 1 is on Scottish aggregates tax: information on register. Amendment 1, in the name of the Minister for Public Finance, is the only amendment in the group.
Section 17 of the bill places a duty on Revenue Scotland to maintain a register containing whatever information it deems to be required for the purpose of the collection and management of Scottish aggregates tax. Revenue Scotland may publish information relating to the register, such as the names and registration numbers of registered trading persons and the addresses, co-ordinates and boundary plans of any sites at other premises of those businesses. Section 17(6) makes further provision about Revenue Scotland’s powers concerning the register, allowing information to be published despite any obligation not to disclose the information that would otherwise apply.
On a review of its wording, the section may be interpreted as inadvertently overriding reserved data protection legislation. To provide reassurance that we are not legislating in reserved areas, amendment 1 clarifies that only obligations not to disclose information that are within devolved competence are relevant. We would not usually explicitly provide for such a thing, given the limits that are already in the Scotland Act 1998. However, due to the complexity of this particular area of the law, we thought it best to provide that explicit reassurance.
I move amendment 1 and urge members to support it.
No other member has asked to speak. Do you wish to add anything by way of wind-up, minister?
No.
Amendment 1 agreed to.
Section 29—Groups of companies
Group 2 is on Scottish aggregates tax: group treatment of companies. Amendment 2, in the name of the minister, is grouped with amendment 3.
Part 1 of the bill enables groups of companies to register collectively for Scottish aggregates tax. The benefit of doing that is that it reduces the administrative burden on taxpayers. The bill sets out how groups of companies and members of such groups are to be treated with regard to tax liabilities and administrative processes. Companies that are part of a Scottish aggregates tax group may choose to add a new company to the group, remove a company from the existing group, substitute a company as a representative member of the group, and/or apply for companies to no longer be treated as a group. That is achieved by making an application in line with section 29(7).
Section 29(8) pins the date that that change occurs to the start date of an accounting period. Revenue Scotland has identified the possibility that that date restriction could cause administrative issues for taxpayers and the tax authority. Amendments 2 and 3 provide Revenue Scotland with greater flexibility to action changes to groups at a date that it would set out in a notice, as opposed to being restricted to making such a change at the start of an accounting period. The amendments aim to remove administrative issues that such a restriction would cause for both the taxpayer and Revenue Scotland.
I move amendment 2 and urge members to support both amendments in the group.
Again, no other member has asked to speak. Minister, do you have anything to add by way of wind-up?
I have nothing to add.
Amendment 2 agreed to.
Amendment 3 moved—[Ivan McKee]—and agreed to.
Section 45A—Failure to notify change to group treatment application or notification
Group 3 is on Scottish aggregates tax: minor amendments. Amendment 4, in the name of the minister, is grouped with amendment 5.
Amendments 4 and 5 correct minor drafting errors in the bill as amended at stage 2, in sections 45A and 47 respectively.
Section 45A inserts a new section into the Revenue Scotland and Tax Powers Act 2014, which will create a penalty in relation to Scottish aggregates tax where a person fails to comply with section 30A of the bill, which itself requires notification to Revenue Scotland of any changes to group treatment applications or notifications. Amendment 4 clarifies that the reference to section 30A will not be to the bill as enacted.
Section 47 also inserts a new section into the 2014 act, this time providing that liability under the penalty provisions relating to Scottish aggregates tax will not arise where the taxpayer can show that there is a “reasonable excuse” for their conduct. Amendment 5 is consequential to an amendment that was agreed at stage 2 and clarifies that the liability to a penalty is in relation to a failure to comply with a requirement imposed by the bill as enacted.
I move amendment 4 and urge members to support both amendments in the group.
Again, no other member wishes to comment. Minister, have you anything to add?
I have nothing further to add.
Amendment 4 agreed to.
Section 47—General provisions for penalties relating to Scottish aggregates tax
Amendment 5 moved—[Ivan McKee]—and agreed to.
After section 51
Group 4 is on devolved taxes: refusal of repayment claim where other tax not paid. Amendment 6, in the name of the minister, is grouped with amendment 7.
Section 113 of the Revenue Scotland and Tax Powers Act 2014 sets out the circumstances in which Revenue Scotland need not give effect to a repayment claim, to the extent that the claim falls within one of a list of exceptions. Originally, section 52 of the bill inserted a new exception, allowing the repayment of a claim to be refused in circumstances where a taxpayer has another amount of tax outstanding. That was primarily a revenue protection measure. Without that provision, Revenue Scotland would be required to give effect to a repayment claim by refunding the amount claimed and then trying to recover any separate amount owed by the same taxpayer.
During recent stakeholder engagement, I was pleased to hear that the Law Society of Scotland is supportive of the policy intention behind the provision, and I thank it for engaging with my officials to help to clarify the wording of the provision. During on-going stakeholder engagement on the bill provisions, it became clear that the placement of the provision in section 113 could give rise to some confusion, as section 113 contains a list of the grounds on which Revenue Scotland need not ever give effect to a repayment claim. That could result in a misunderstanding of the intention of the provision, which is only ever supposed to be temporary in effect. I have therefore lodged amendments 6 and 7, which aim to provide greater clarity in that area.
Amendment 6 introduces a new exception to the existing duty that is outlined in schedule 3 to the Revenue Scotland and Tax Powers Act 2014, which requires Revenue Scotland to give effect to a claim or amendment as soon as is practical after a claim is made, amended or corrected. The new exception, which is introduced by amendment 6, enables Revenue Scotland to disapply that duty to the extent of a failure to pay another amount of tax. The underlying duty to give effect to the claim continues to apply to the extent that the repayment exceeds the other amount of tax due, in which case the result will be a partial repayment to the taxpayer. As soon as the other amount of tax owed is settled, the exception no longer applies and Revenue Scotland will be required to give effect to the entirety of the claim.
My point is with regard to the wording of proposed new paragraph 12(3) of schedule 3 to the 2014 act in amendment 6. Can the minister confirm that the “claim” that is referred to three times in that sub-paragraph is the original claim, and not a subsequent claim that someone who owes tax might be making?
If I understand the member’s question correctly, that is correct.
Amendment 7 is a consequential amendment that removes the existing section 52 from the bill.
I am conscious that, more now than ever, there are a range of pressures on the Scottish Government’s budget, so it is imperative that we protect the revenues that are raised through devolved taxes. I therefore urge all members to support amendments 6 and 7.
I move amendment 6.
As the minister will know, following engagement with the Law Society of Scotland, at stage 2 I raised concerns that some of the safeguards for taxpayers were perhaps not sufficient to address any situation in which there was a dispute between a taxpayer and Revenue Scotland about the amount of tax found to be outstanding, and also about the process for appeal should that be necessary. I am grateful to the minister for engaging at stage 2. I am pleased that those concerns have been addressed in amendments 6 and 7. The Scottish Conservatives will therefore support them.
I call the minister to make any final comments on amendments 6 and 7
I thank Liz Smith for her comments; I have no further comments to add.
Amendment 6 agreed to.
Section 52—Refusal of repayment claim where other tax not paid
Amendment 7 moved—[Ivan McKee]—and agreed to.
That ends consideration of amendments.
As members will be aware, at this point in the proceedings the Presiding Officer is required under standing orders to decide whether, in her view, any provision of the bill relates to a protected subject matter—that is, that it modifies the electoral system and franchise for Scottish parliamentary elections. In the case of the bill before us, in her view, no provision of the Aggregates Tax and Devolved Taxes Administration (Scotland) Bill relates to a protected subject matter. Therefore, the bill does not require a supermajority for it to be passed at stage 3.
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