Scottish businesses have warned they will “bleed to death” under what have been described as “Victorian-era taxation policies”, as new rates revaluations take effect.
Gordon Drummond, who runs Cairngorm Bothies in Aberdeenshire, faces a 185% rise in rateable value — which he says is closer to 620% after losing small business bonus relief.
He said the increase would be “fatal” and cause his business to “bleed to death”, describing transitional relief as “a sticking plaster applied to an arterial wound”.
Speaking to The Scotsman, he said: “This is massive and will kill my company.
“The new budget deal means the damage is limited to just 15% of the total impact, but while that has helped, the rateable values are still hanging over my head like the sword of Damocles.”
He added: “The emotion of building something for 15 years and then having to give the instruction to destroy it because you can’t afford to keep it open is devastating.”
The Federation of Small Businesses said members are facing “significant rises” and “very difficult choices”.
Colin Borland, Scottish director of the FSB, said recent relief was “simply putting off an inevitable reckoning rather than taking the problem away.”
A Scottish Government spokeswoman said the proposed budget includes a “strong” non-domestic rates package, “including more than £320 million of forecast support through transitional relief schemes” over the next three years.