English: Since being elected in 2011, most of the discussions I've heard in the Senedd regarding taxation have been about reducing it - although not quite as extreme as Neil Hamilton this afternoon - rather than the need for taxation to pay for public services. When you look at the cost of private education and private healthcare, it puts into perspective the value for money we all get from our taxation system. Taxation is raised to pay for public services. Too many people believe we can have the same quality of public services as Scandinavia but have a taxation system that is more akin to that of the United States of America. It is not by random chance or serendipity that those countries with higher tax levels have the best public services and those with lower tax levels the poorest. It's because taxation is necessary to raise the money to pay for the public services that we all need - services such as the roads I travelled on into the Assembly today, the safety of people in work, the safety of food, education, the health service, which I and my constituents depend upon, and the policing of our streets. Quality public services, be they health, education, or infrastructure, come at a substantial cost to the public purse, and the only way of paying for them is via taxation. Taxation can be on income, profit, consumption, expenditure, or value of land and property, or a combination of all of them. But, if people want quality public services, these are the taxes needed to pay for them. Whilst nobody likes to pay taxes and some rich individuals and multinational companies are experts at reducing their tax payments, for multinational companies, corporation tax is an optional payment whose value can be reduced by such things as intracompany payments for intellectual property rights, or transfer charges for goods and services, or ensuring that the point of sale for goods for people in Britain occurs outside Britain and profit occurs offshore. All of these have been used by some of the largest companies in order to reduce the amount of corporation tax they pay in Britain. On devolving corporation tax, while I suspect that Plaid Cymru want to do it so they can reduce it, unless reduced to almost zero, it will not be competitive with the offshore British protectorates, such as the British Virgin Islands, for multinational companies. I don't think corporation tax has got much of a life left in it. It is going to, at some stage, have to be replaced, because it is only paid by smaller companies who only deal in the country they're in. Providing quality public services means that if some people do not pay then either public services suffer or others have to make up the shortfall. Every time tax cuts are made, they are shown as beneficial and they appear to be for those who are paying less tax and have more money in their pocket. The effect that these reductions in Government income have on public expenditure on services such as health, local government and education are completely ignored until the cuts start affecting people. Some of those in favour of reducing public expenditure are amongst the first to oppose any cuts in services. The more difficult a tax is to avoid, the more unpopular it is with the rich and powerful. By far the most difficult taxes to avoid are the property taxes - non-domestic rates, council tax. There are no tricks, such as using internal company transactions or having non-domiciled status, to avoid paying the tax. The buildings, whether they are residential, manufacturing, commercial or retail, are not movable and the tax becomes liable on the property and has to be paid. I also welcome the Welsh Government's consultation on the possibility of introducing innovative taxes and the list of a levy to fund social care, a disposable plastic tax, a tax - [Interruption.] Certainly.
Welsh: Ers cael fy ethol yn 2011, mae'r rhan fwyaf o'r trafodaethau a glywais yn y Senedd ynghylch trethiant wedi bod ynglŷn â'i leihau - er nad wyf mor eithafol â Neil Hamilton y prynhawn yma - yn hytrach na'r angen am drethiant i dalu am wasanaethau cyhoeddus. Pan edrychwch ar gost addysg breifat a gofal iechyd preifat, mae'n rhoi'r gwerth am arian a gawn o'n system drethiant mewn persbectif. Caiff treth ei chodi er mwyn talu am wasanaethau cyhoeddus. Mae gormod o bobl yn credu y gallwn gael gwasanaethau cyhoeddus o'r un ansawdd â Sgandinafia a chael system drethu sy'n debycach i un Unol Daleithiau America. Nid ar hap neu drwy serendipedd y mae gan y gwledydd sydd â lefelau trethu uwch y gwasanaethau cyhoeddus gorau ac mai'r gwledydd sydd â lefelau trethu is sydd â'r gwasanaethau salaf. Oherwydd bod trethiant yn angenrheidiol ar gyfer codi arian i dalu am y gwasanaethau cyhoeddus y mae pawb ohonom eu hangen - gwasanaethau megis y ffyrdd teithiais ar eu hyd i'r Cynulliad heddiw, diogelwch pobl mewn gwaith, diogelwch bwyd, addysg, y gwasanaeth iechyd rwyf fi a fy etholwyr yn dibynnu arno, a phlismona ein strydoedd. Mae cost ansawdd gwasanaethau cyhoeddus, boed yn iechyd, addysg neu'r seilwaith, yn sylweddol i'r pwrs cyhoeddus, a'r unig ffordd o dalu amdanynt yw drwy drethu. Gellir trethu incwm, elw, treuliant, gwariant neu werth tir ac eiddo, neu gyfuniad o bob un ohonynt. Ond os yw pobl eisiau gwasanaethau cyhoeddus o ansawdd, dyma'r trethi sydd eu hangen i dalu amdanynt. Er nad oes neb yn hoffi talu trethi a bod rhai unigolion cyfoethog a chwmnïau amlwladol yn arbenigwyr ar leihau eu taliadau treth, i gwmnïau amlwladol, mae'r dreth gorfforaeth yn daliad dewisol y gellir lleihau ei gwerth trwy bethau fel taliadau rhyng-gwmnïol am hawliau eiddo deallusol, neu drosglwyddo taliadau am nwyddau a gwasanaethau, neu sicrhau bod y man gwerthu nwyddau i bobl ym Mhrydain yn digwydd y tu allan i Brydain a bod elw'n digwydd oddi ar ei glannau. Mae pob un o'r pethau hyn wedi'u defnyddio gan rai o'r cwmnïau mwyaf er mwyn lleihau swm y dreth gorfforaeth a dalant ym Mhrydain. Ar ddatganoli'r dreth gorfforaeth, er fy mod yn amau bod Plaid Cymru eisiau ei wneud er mwyn ei leihau, oni bai ei fod wedi ei leihau i bron ddim, ni fydd yn cystadlu â diffynwledydd alltraeth Prydeinig, megis Ynysoedd Prydeinig y Wyryf, i gwmnïau amlwladol. Nid wyf yn meddwl bod llawer o fywyd ar ôl yn y dreth gorfforaeth. Ar ryw adeg, bydd yn rhaid cael rhywbeth yn ei lle gan mai cwmnïau llai o faint sy'n gweithredu yn y wlad y maent wedi'u lleoli ynddi'n unig sy'n ei thalu. Mae darparu gwasanaethau cyhoeddus o ansawdd yn golygu, os nad yw rhai pobl yn ei thalu, naill ai bydd gwasanaethau cyhoeddus yn dioddef neu bydd yn rhaid i eraill wneud iawn am y diffyg. Bob tro y gwneir toriadau treth, cânt eu dangos fel rhywbeth buddiol ac maent yn ymddangos felly i'r rhai sy'n talu llai o dreth ac sydd â mwy o arian yn eu pocedi. Caiff effaith y gostyngiadau hyn yn incwm y Llywodraeth ar wariant cyhoeddus ar wasanaethau megis iechyd, llywodraeth leol ac addysg eu hanwybyddu'n llwyr hyd nes y bydd y toriadau'n dechrau effeithio ar bobl. Mae rhai o'r bobl sydd o blaid lleihau gwariant cyhoeddus ymhlith y cyntaf i wrthwynebu unrhyw doriadau mewn gwasanaethau. Po fwyaf anodd yw treth i'w hosgoi, y mwyaf amhoblogaidd yw hi ymhlith y cyfoethog a'r pwerus. Y trethi anoddaf o lawer i'w hosgoi yw trethi eiddo - ardrethi annomestig, y dreth gyngor. Nid oes unrhyw driciau, megis defnyddio trafodion mewnol y cwmni neu statws cwmni nad yw wedi'i leoli yng Nghymru, er mwyn osgoi talu'r dreth. Nid yw'r adeiladau, pa un a ydynt yn adeiladau preswyl, gweithgynhyrchu, masnachol neu fanwerthu, yn symudol a daw treth yn daladwy ar yr eiddo ac mae'n rhaid ei thalu. Hefyd, rwy'n croesawu ymgynghoriad Llywodraeth Cymru ar y posibilrwydd o gyflwyno trethi arloesol a'r rhestr ardollau i gyllido gofal cymdeithasol, treth ar blastig tafladwy, treth - [ Torri ar draws. ] Yn sicr.