Media and politics

Peers debated the Queen’s Speech this week (Jan 9), with an emphasis on the economic announcements within it. However, most of the long debate was about the NHS and adult social care. Below is a summary of the key points in the debate, picking out tax-related mentions in particular.

By Alexander Garden, chair of the CIOT's Scottish Technical Committee

This article was originally published in the Thunderer column of the Times (Scottish edition) and can be viewed here.

Since its publication, both the Conservatives and Labour have said that, if elected, they will publish a UK Budget in February 2020.

One unintended casualty of Britain’s Brexit impasse has been Scotland’s budget process. In recent years a November budget at Westminster would be followed by Holyrood’s in December. Then there would be two to three months of parliamentary scrutiny before it became law for the start of the new tax year in April.

The news that the Trump administration is threatening France with 100 per cent duties on certain goods and services following France’s introduction of a Digital Services Tax (DST) has given rise to a great deal of comment, much of it around the timing of the announcement and the politics behind the move. 

This week also saw Plaid Cymru and the Brexit Party set out their pledges to voters, with extra powers for Wales and the scrapping of Inheritance Tax their respective headline tax measures.