A new Scottish Bill is being planned by the Government, which will pass over control of landfill tax and a proportion of the income tax raised in Scotland, from Westminster to the Scottish Parliament.
The Scotland Bill follows the findings of the Calman Commission review of devolution, the recommendations of which were published in June 2009. In line with this, the Bill proposes that the Scottish Parliament will gain control over landfill tax and the current Landfill Tax Regulations (Regulations) 1996, which govern the Landfill Communities Fund (LCF) will no longer apply in Scotland.
Currently Scotland has the same rate of landfill tax as the rest of the UK, which rose to £48 per tonne on 1 April 2010. However it has been recommended that Scotland be granted the ability to set its own taxes.
The new powers are expected to come into effect in 2015 although it is proposed that EBs in Scotland still holding funds will have a further two years to spend them.
Please visit HMRC’s or HM Treasury’s websites for further information.
http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/news/news-calman.htm
http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/8510.htm