A Scottish spa company owner with more than 20 outlets north and south of the Border has criticised First Minister Humza Yousaf amid claims of "backtracking" on tax relief.
The founder of the Edinburgh-based company has raised concerns over calls for parity with England on retail, hospitality and leisure support, while Holyrood insists its level of backing outstrips the Westminster business rates package.
Pressure is mounting as the Scottish budget follows an assurance by Chancellor Jeremy Hunt to continue the 75% non-domestic rates discount model in England that Scotland has opted against.
Becky Lumsden, of Pure Spa and Beauty, said that "ahead of the 2024 budget announcement on 19 December, the Scottish Government appears to be backtracking on promises made to bring rates discounts into line with England and Wales" and added the business pays £1.5m in tax a year.
She said: "Shame on you Tom Arthur, Humza Yousaf, Shona Robison, Lorna Slater Neil Gray for betraying the SME sector in Scotland.
"If you wonder why there are 20,000 Scottish SMEs who have gone bust this year, you know where to look.
"All I ask for is some support from my government to continue to keep 200 people in a job, continue to grow my business and continue to pay our taxes."
The University of Strathclyde’s Fraser of Allander Institute said in its pre-budget briefing that while the annual cost of such relief to England would be around £230m, "using the valuation roll for 2023, we have modelled how much this might cost to replicate, and we think it might be as much as £360m, even after accounting for businesses with no liability due to the small business bonus".
READ MORE: 'We can't go on': Hospitality sector in urgent plea to First Minister
READ MORE: High earners facing new tax hike in Holyrood's toughest budget
João Sousa, deputy director at the institute, told The Herald: "The main difference in our estimate of cost is down to two reasons: hospitality and leisure in particular are slightly larger as a share of total activity in Scotland than the UK as a whole; and this interacts with the fact that the retail, hospitality and leisure industries appear to be less concentrated in Scotland, and so the cap of £110,000 per business applies to fewer properties.
"So relatively more business would benefit from the full relief."
A Scottish Government spokesperson said its slice of the UK Barnett consequentials breakdown is considered "as a whole ahead of the Scottish budget" each year and it is "taking decisive steps to offer support", adding: "The Scottish budget 2023-24 ensured the lowest poundage in the UK for the fifth year in a row and supports a package of reliefs worth an estimated £749m, including the Small Business Bonus Scheme which is estimated to take over 100,000 properties out of rates altogether.
"The Scottish Government will continue to do all it can to support businesses in response to the cost of living crisis, including pressing the UK Government for support with high energy bills.
"Decisions on non-domestic rates for 2024-25 will be made as part of next week’s Budget in line with the Framework for Tax 2021 and with consideration given to affordability."
Deputy business editor Scott Wright drilled into this subject in his insight piece, writing that "industry bodies have been intensifying calls for the Scottish Government to provide relief from business rates to ease the pressure from mounting overheads".
Also this week, business editor Ian McConnell shines a light on community banking, writing that "there has since been a dramatic change in the thinking on mobile branches" amid further cuts to the high street estate.
There was good news for campaigners bidding to bring a beloved art deco cinema back to its former glory, writes business correspondent Kristy Dorsey, when they were granted funding to purchase the building after a successful bid to the Scottish Land Fund.
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