THE SCOTTISH Government has been warned that it could take years to “repair the damage”if it raises income tax in next week’s Draft Budget.
Tim Allan, president of the Scottish Chambers of Commerce, spoke out against tax rises in the absence of independent economic impact assessments in a speech given last night in the presence of First Minster Nicola Sturgeon.
Speaking in his first annual business address, Mr Allan said: “Our concern is that, at a time of sluggish growth and faltering business investment, a competitive Scotland cannot afford to be associated with higher taxes than elsewhere in the UK.
“A high-tax Scotland would be easy to achieve but the damage could take years to repair,” he said.
It is believed that Ms Sturgeon’s government is considering changing the tax system.
Mr Allan said that unless tax revenue were ring-fenced to drive growth and create jobs, the cost in terms of lost investment was incalculable.
Turning to Brexit, Mr Allan said that with delays in the negotiations already leading businesses to implement contingency plans it was vital to “impress upon our political leaders to work with energy, focus and momentum in securing a deal which is good for business and the economy”.
He also said the Chamber could not “hide our disappointment” that the pledge to reduce and eliminate Air Passenger Duty in Scotland has been postponed, due to legal technicalities.
“The economic case has been made, accepted by Government, so let’s get on with it and remove this growth inhibitor to trade.”
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel