Chancellor George Osborne vowed to devolve business rates to the Welsh Government in his Autumn Statement on December 3.
The move was welcomed by the Federation of Small Businesses in Wales, which has been calling for rates to be devolved for many years.
FSB Wales Policy Chair Janet Jones said: “It was pleasing to hear the Chancellor confirm in his Autumn Statement that business rates will be fully devolved to Wales next year – something we at FSB Wales have long called for.
“This means that the Welsh Government will have full control over the system here in Wales from April. With that in mind it is essential that we see fundamental reform of the system here.
“Currently small businesses in Wales face higher rates than those in a property of similar rateable value in England.
“Wales now has a huge opportunity to reform this outdated and unfair tax, and in doing so support the small businesses which are the key job-creators in our communities.
“We also call on the Welsh Government to use some of the Barnett consequential from the Chancellor’s announcement to reverse the cuts to apprenticeship programmes for small businesses, helping to create further jobs and growth here in Wales.”
The Chancellor did signal some help for apprenticeships and small business by abolishing employer payments of National Insurance for under-25s.
The move was welcomed by the Liberal Democrats, as were reforms to stamp duty and the raising of the Income Tax threshold.
Welsh Liberal Democrat leader, Kirsty Williams said: “The radical reforms announced to stamp duty are great news for potential home buyers in Wales. This Liberal Democrat policy means that 99% of Welsh homebuyers would benefit.
“Raising the tax-threshold to £10,600 is a clear win for the Liberal Democrats.
“It means that over a million people in Wales will receive a further tax cut while a further 20,000 of the lowest paid workers in Wales will no longer pay a single penny of income tax.
“I am delighted that Liberal Democrats are making it cheaper for employers to take on an apprentice by abolishing employer National Insurance Contributions for people under the age of 25.
“This will boost the Welsh economy while helping people to build careers.”
I would be very weary of supporting this. Would anyone trust the Labour government to be competitive and not base decision on short-sighted ideology forcing all businesses to base themselves in England along with other higher-rate paying taxpayers in the UK?