The Scottish Retail Consortium has unveiled plans for an overhaul of business taxation, in an attempt to concentrate the minds of policy makers and politicians on lifting the country’s economic growth and productivity ahead of the 2016 Holyrood election.
Launching the first in a series of election policy papers, the SRC sets out a range of measures for the reform of the £2.8bn business rates tax for inclusion as an early priority in the next Administration’s Programme for Government.
A growing coalition of businesses and representative organisations have recently made the case for the fundamental reform of business rates in Scotland.
The SRC has set out medium- and longer-term ambitions including the need for a firm commitment to a fundamental structural reform of business rates, including consideration of whether the business rates system should remain a property-based tax.
In addition the SRC has set out a range of short-term reforms that are urgently required to arrest the number of store closures, assist town centres, support business investment and protect jobs. These include the introduction of more frequent revaluations, a lower retail-specific poundage, empty property relief for premises undergoing investment and refurbishment and a wide range of administrative improvements including standardised online billing and a reduction in the number of Assessors from 14 to one into a single National Assessor.
SRC Director David Lonsdale said the current system is a tax on jobs and growth, which undermines investment in property, especially in town centres and high streets.
“This is not just a problem for businesses, store closures have a significant and detrimental impact on communities and town centres and lead to a loss in government revenue through other taxes,” he continued. “That is why we have launched our proposals for reform which are vital for securing a competitive business environment in Scotland.”
