Question reference: S6W-13765
- Date lodged: 11 January 2023
-
Current status: Answered by Tom Arthur on 24 January 2023
Question
To ask the Scottish Government what assessment of the economic impact of the reforms to the Small Business Bonus Scheme relief thresholds was carried out in advance of the publication of the draft Scottish Budget 2023-24.
Answer
The reforms of the Small Business Bonus Scheme (SBBS) relief announced in the Scottish Budget ensure that it remains the most generous in the UK, and will continue to take 100,000 properties out of rates altogether.
We are expanding the upper eligibility threshold for the Small Business Bonus Scheme to £20,000 and making the relief more progressive by introducing a taper. To ensure that properties that lose some or all of their eligibility for SBBS or Rural rates relief do so in a phased manner we are also offering a Small Business Transitional Relief which will protect an estimated 19,000 properties in 2023-24.
Forecasted costs of SBBS over the next five years, including changes to SBBS thresholds and rates, can be found in the Scottish Fiscal Commission Scotland’s Economic and Fiscal Forecasts – December 2022 .