Company to develop digital solution using Microsoft Azure for use from April 2018
The Welsh Government has contracted digital services and platforms provider Kainos to develop a system to support the country’s new tax collection authority.
The Welsh Revenue Authority (WRA), which is scheduled to be established in the autumn, will use the system from April 2018 to manage the collection of a group of land-related taxes devolved to the Welsh Government.
The first will be the Land Transaction Tax (LTT), replacing the UK Stamp Duty Land Tax, and the Landfill Disposals Tax (LDT) in place of the Landfill Tax.
Kainos said the new system will use the Microsoft Azure Platform as a Service solution, and that it plans to adopt an agile delivery approach in line with the current Welsh Government Digital Strategy.
Ease of collection
Russell Sloan, divisional director at Kainos, commented: “Digitisation of tax collection and management for LTT and LDT will go a long way towards improving the ease of collecting tax revenue in Wales.
“It is a true testament to the power of digital technology and will be an example to other public sector bodies. We very much look forward to kicking off the project and collaborating with the Welsh Revenue Authority to develop a new way of working.”
The WRA will be the first non-ministerial government department created by the Welsh Government and is expected to collect more than £1bn in tax revenues over the next three years.
The announcement marks an extension of Kainos’s role in developing digital systems for land-related data. Last November it was reported that it had formed a partnership with HM Land Registry to develop a digital solution for the Local Land Charges (LLC) Register.
Image from GotCredit, CC BY 2.0 through flickr
