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Stormont corporation tax bill is published | |
(about 5 hours later) | |
The legislation which should allow corporation tax powers to be devolved to Stormont has been published. | |
The government is aiming to pass the law before May's General Election. | |
It should allow Northern Ireland to set its own rate of corporation tax from April 2017. | |
The devolution of powers to set the corporation tax rate was a key demand of political leaders ahead of the Stormont House Agreement finalised in Belfast last month. | |
The current rate paid by businesses in Northern Ireland is 21%, compared to 12.5% in the Republic of Ireland. | |
The executive wants to be able to match the tax rate in the Republic of Ireland. | |
Northern Ireland Secretary Theresa Villiers said she was delighted at moves toward devolution of the tax. | |
"There is strong support for this change across all five of the parties in the Northern Ireland Executive and the business community who believe it would provide a major incentive for domestic businesses to invest further in Northern Ireland and significantly increase foreign direct investment," she said. | |
"Given the land border shared with a lower corporation tax jurisdiction, this measure has the potential to create thousands of new jobs and stimulate crucial growth in Northern Ireland's private sector, leading to a stronger, re-balanced economy." | |
She said the bill offered the prospect of a "transformative change in Northern Ireland" and was subject to the important conditions contained in the Stormont House Agreement. | |
Chancellor George Osborne said: "As I've said over a number of years, there is a strong case for devolving a corporation tax rate-setting power to Northern Ireland. | |
"Today we recognise this by publishing the law to let this happen. This will give the Northern Ireland Executive greater power to rebalance the economy towards a stronger private sector, boosting employment and growth. | |
"We want to work with the NI Executive to ensure that Northern Ireland will attract investment and become more competitive, boosting the entire UK economy." | |
On Wednesday, Shadow Secretary of State Ivan Lewis said Labour was concerned at what he described as the government's "rush" to introduce the new legislation. |