Sinn Féin has said the Stormont executive should “seek greater fiscal powers going forward”, including potentially the devolution of stamp duty and elements of income tax.
The party’s 2022 assembly election manifesto said Sinn Féin would “seek greater devolution of fiscal powers” that would enable the power-sharing administration to “target resources and develop progressive taxation policies” with the aim of improving public services.
Sinn Féin’s Caoimhe Archibald has succeeded party colleague Conor Murphy as finance minister, however, her appointment was unexpected, with the DUP previously earmarked to take control of Stormont’s purse strings. In recent days, the party has said it will resist implementing revenue raising linked to the British government’s £3.3bn financial package for the restored executive.
Mr Murphy was a strong advocate of devolving tax powers when in office. He described the Fiscal Commission’s 2022 report into devolving tax powers as “solid evidence base to start a public conversation on tax”.
The report recommended the partial devolution of income tax and the apprenticeship levy, as well as completing the devolution of corporation tax.
The commission argued that the devolution of excise duties for fuel, alcohol and tobacco in the longer term would also be advantageous.
Sinn Féin MLA Nichola Brogan said the British government had acknowledged that the executive is underfunded.
“Sinn Féin believes the executive should seek greater fiscal powers going forward, which was the focus of the Fiscal Commission’s report,” she said.
“Revenue raising needs to be based on fairness, reducing inequality and improving the quality of public services - while supporting sustainable economic development.”
Irish News columnist and Slugger O’Toole deputy editor David McCann said devolving fiscal powers was “an essential move forward – but only if they are used”.
“In the past when governments wanted to do big things, whether it was Labour in 1946 paying for their new welfare state or Fianna Fáil in 2010 trying to balance the books, revenue raising was a key part of the mix,” he said.
“The tax changes brought in then are still with us today – Sinn Féin needs to use this crisis to lead this debate and then demonstrate that revenue raising ought not to be the political bogeyman that it is made out to be.”
A Department of Finance spokesperson said: “The finance minister will consider the Fiscal Commission’s recommendations and responses to the Department of Finance’s subsequent consultation in relation to fiscal devolution.”