Kate Forbes voices 'relief' over tax breaks for businesses in Scottish Budget
Kate Forbes has told business leaders she was "relieved" the Scottish Budget contained tax breaks for hospitality firms after two years of inaction on the issue by her government.
The deputy first minister, who also holds the economy brief, suggested she would like to see opposition MSPs push for even more support. It came as Ms Forbes insisted a "fixation" on income tax alone was not sufficient to close Scotland's economic performance gap with the rest of the UK.
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"The point I would go back to is, you cannot continually raise income tax, and the proof is in this Budget, where we haven't," she told journalists.
Ms Forbes was previously critical of the SNP's power-sharing relationship with the Greens, which collapsed earlier this year, and is considered to be on her party’s pro-business wing. But speaking at a business event in Edinburgh on Thursday morning, she was challenged over the level of SNP support for struggling firms.
Chancellor Rachel Reeves announced a 40 per cent relief on business rates for the retail, leisure and hospitality sectors as part of the UK Budget.
The Scottish Government's scheme is more restrictive and will only apply to hospitality businesses with a rateable value of up to £51,000.
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Hide AdMs Forbes said: "In terms of hospitality, there's no doubt about the hugely challenging period that you've been through. And although this doesn't go as far as you would like, I can't tell you how relieved I am that after two years where there has been no retail, hospitality and leisure relief, that this year there is - I accept more limited than you would like."
She later added: "The starting gun has just been fired for the Budget, and I would like to see all of Parliament coalesce around the importance of supporting our businesses and supporting our economy."
Asked if she was suggesting there may be some flexibility in this area, Ms Forbes said: “I’m not suggesting anything because I’m not finance secretary. But I am suggesting that I would like to see that focus across the board and a reflection of the importance of these businesses in all of our communities.”
Ms Forbes told the event, which was hosted by True North Advisors, Scottish Financial Enterprise and Brodies LLP, that she wanted to "give everybody the strongest impression, internationally and at home, that Scotland is the best place to do business, that we value your contribution, that we value job creators and wealth creators and our country cannot move forward without you".
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Hide AdSpeaking to journalists afterwards, she spoke of the importance of "focusing on a few industries with the greatest potential to grow and the greatest potential to attract, essentially, higher earners".
The SNP was previously criticised for hiking taxes on higher earners, but Wednesday’s Budget froze income tax rates.
Ms Forbes said: "To quote John Swinney himself, he has said you cannot continually raise tax. He said that when he assumed office, and you saw a Budget yesterday that did not increase rates further, did not increase the number of rates, and more than that actually increased the basic and intermediate thresholds by more than inflation, ensuring that lower earners are keeping more of their hard-earned wage.”
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