THE Queen is appealing three business rate bills at her Scottish home.
The monarch is appealing bills with a rateable value of £42,750 at the Balmoral estate in Aberdeenshire.
The National newspaper reported the Queen was contesting two bills at Ballater, one for a rateable value of £12,250 for shooting rights and another of £22,500 for a deer forest.
The Herald has also discovered the Queen is appealing a bill for a rateable value of £8000 on a deer forest at Delnadamph, Strathdon.
As the rates bills are calculated at 48p in the pound, the charge for a rateable value of £42,750 would be £20,520.
Public records identify the proprietor of the properties as “HM The Queen per factor”.
Records also reveal a bill for a rateable value of £7600 (an actual bill of £3648) is being appealed for a deer forest at nearby Abergeldie Estate where the Queen is the tenant.
Deer stalking and shooting estates were previously exempt from business rates, but Holyrood’s Land Reform Act means they have been billed since April 2017.
Green MSP Andy Wightman said: “Bringing shooting estates into non-domestic rates is about fairness and it’s no surprise wealthy landowners are seeking to pay as little as possible.”
A spokeswoman for Buckingham Palace told the National: “We wouldn’t comment on matters relating to a private estate.”
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