Speaker Biographies

Sam Cairns, Chief Operating Officer, Welsh Revenue Authority

Sam Cairns is WRA’s Chief Operating Officer and executive member of the Welsh Revenue Authority’s Board. He lives in , having moved from Bristol with his partner a few years ago. He grew up in South East Kent, studying Business at the University of Kent, before joining HM Revenue and Customs to train as a Corporation Tax Specialist. During his 11 years at HMRC, Sam worked on various compliance projects, and led some of HMRC’s largest tax disputes. His latest role before moving to WRA in October 2017, was Lead for the IT & Telecoms sector and a Cross Tax Customer Relationship Manager within the Large Business directorate.

Sam currently leads the WRA’s operational delivery function, which consists of 19 staff covering the customer facing delivery of the two devolved taxes – and . The team consists of a helpdesk, tax and debt specialists, as well as an enforcement function.

He is currently enjoying the unique opportunity to shape the way tax is administered in Wales, and in particular the development of new and innovative strategies to ensure the right amount of tax is paid at the right time.

Neil Butt – Head of Customer and Engagement, Welsh Revenue Authority

Neil heads up a small team in the WRA that leads on all engagement across Government, taxpayers, and tax professionals. The focus of this team is to educate and enable taxpayers to complete accurate tax returns efficiently. The team also lead on customer insights and maps all customer journeys, focusing on where they can improve the customer experience and improve WRA processes.

Neil has been involved in tax for several years initially working on the Land Transaction Tax policy development and legislation with . Then moving to the WRA implementation programme, working very closely with HMRC to ensure all criteria were met to switch off the taxes in UK Government and switch on the devolved taxes in Wales.