Credit unions and mutual societies in Northern Ireland should be able to benefit from any new lower rate of corporation tax, according to a cross-party committee of local politicians.

The Corporation Tax (Northern Ireland) Bill is scheduled to be debated tomorrow in the House of Commons.

The Northern Ireland Secretary of State, Theresa Villiers, has said she hopes the bill will be passed before the UK general election in May.

The bill specifies which sectors can qualify to take advantage of a lower rate of corporation tax and it currently excludes the financial services sector.

The Assembly Committee for Enterprise, Trade and Investment is concerned that local credit unions and mutual societies will not be able to benefit from any new lower rates.

Patsy McGlone, chairperson of the committee said: “We understand that the Bill quite rightly wishes to ensure that there is no undue exploitation by the financial services sector of lower corporation tax.

“However, we believe that credit unions and mutual societies contribute greatly to their communities and play an invaluable role supporting individuals to manage their financial affairs.

“They provide a much-needed alternative to high-cost lending and illegal lending and we must do all we can to support them.”

Mr McGlone said there is evidence to suggest that by allowing credit unions and mutual societies to benefit from the new lower rate of tax it could potentially free up £1.5 million (about €2.1 million).

He believes that this is money that could be better spent expanding the services credit unions provide and in community investment.

“We need clarity on the status of Northern Ireland credit unions and mutual societies within the Bill and we need to ensure that they will be helped to carry out their important work within their communities,” Mr McGlone said.