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I think that: It’s time to back Scotland’s small businesses. The SNP want to help Scotland’s wealth creators by abolishing business rates for 120,000 small businesses in Scotland and reducing them for 30,000 more.
Because: We want to see our economy grow faster and that will mean extra money in people's pockets and more and better-paid jobs.
Scotland has the lowest long-term economic growth in the EU.
Under Gordon Brown and Labour, Scotland’s growth has lagged almost 30% behind the UK – at a cost of £2 billion over just the last two years. That is a loss of £400 for every man woman and child in our country.
Overall, Scotland’s 10-year growth rate - at 2% - has been behind the UK and lower than our near neighbours, Ireland, Iceland and Norway,
Successful small businesses are vital to the economy. They are a source of entrepreneurship and innovation and a driver of competition and local job creation.
The SNP’s Small Business Bonus is worth £150 million to small businesses in Scotland. It sends out a clear message – that we are determined to deliver Scottish economic success. It is a starting point for our economy, and with the full responsibilities of independence we will do more, cutting corporation tax by one third to let Scotland flourish.
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SNP leader Alex Salmond has pledged to abolish business rates for 120,000 small firms across Scotland as part of the SNP’s £150 million small business bonus scheme.
We are determined to support Scotland's small businesses. To help Scotland's wealth creators so that all of Scotland can enjoy the benefits of faster economic growth, with extra money in people's pockets and more and better-paid jobs.
Under the SNP proposals, business rates for firms with a rateable value of £8,000 a year or less would be abolished. Businesses with a rateable value of £8,000 to £10,000 a year would get rates relief of 50% while those with a rateable value of between £10,000 and £15,000 would get 25% off their bills.
The scheme is just part of the SNP’s wider economic strategy to support the small business sector which has been let down under Jack McConnell's administration.
Small businesses have traditionally been important to the economy for a variety of reasons; as a source of entrepreneurship and innovation; a driver of competition and local economic vibrancy; and as a mechanism for job creation.
Small businesses also play a vital role in maintaining and strengthening Scotland's rural communities. By helping small businesses in rural Scotland the SNP is confident this will help to stimulate the wider rural economy.
At the very outset of the Scottish Parliament the Local Government Committee concluded that small businesses faced a disproportionate rates burden and called for a rates relief scheme.
The scheme introduced by the Labour-Liberal Democrat government has been a flop providing only limited help to the sector. An evaluation of the scheme by DTZ Pieda found that its economy wide effects are 'nil or negligible' given that it involves no real increase in resources available to business activity.
In fact in the first year of the Executive's scheme the Executive made a profit. The receipts from the supplement charged to bigger businesses to fund the scheme was actually more than the value of the relief granted.
The SNP believes we must move beyond such ineffectual posturing and deliver a real boost to small businesses in Scotland.
That is why our Small Business Bonus is designed to target small businesses and deliver meaningful help to them while at the same time benefiting the wider economy.
Our proposals will mean that 3 out of 4 businesses will be better off under our Small Business Bonus Scheme. 150,000 businesses in Scotland will either have their business rates completely abolished or significantly reduced as a result of the scheme.
Larger businesses will also continue to benefit from the return to business rate parity with England. A policy which was originally proposed by the SNP and only taken up by the failing Labour-Liberal Democrat government last year in the face of SNP pressure.
The Small Business Bonus is a £150 million package which sends out a clear message of intent from the SNP as we prepare for government next year. We will work within the constraints of devolution to stimulate economic growth, but it is only with the full powers of independence that we will see Scotland flourish.
As well as abolishing business rates for 120,000 small firms across Scotland as part of the £150 million Small Business Bonus scheme, next year an SNP government will cut red tape for small businesses.
By reducing the application for the Small Business Bonus relief to once every five years instead of once every year under the current Scottish Executive Small Business Rate Relief Scheme, it is estimated that this will save the small business sector £10million per annum.
At present, small businesses have to apply for the Scottish Executive Small Business Rate Relief Scheme every year in order to receive the relief on their rates bill. For most businesses their rateable value does not change until the revaluation is carried which is once every five years. This is unnecessary administration for local authorities as well many businesses.
Under an SNP government small businesses will only have to apply for our Small Business Bonus relief once every five years as long as the circumstances of the business have not changed.
As small businesses will no longer need to spend valuable time and resources filling out application forms every year, it is estimated that this will save the small business sector £10million per annum.
The SNP are working hard and preparing for government to help Scotland's wealth creators so that all of Scotland can enjoy the benefits of faster economic growth, with extra money in people's pockets and more and better paid jobs."
Next year is a straight choice between the failing Labour Party and the SNP, which is why the SNP are preparing for government and working hard to deliver a real boost to small businesses and help Scotland reach its economic potential.
Related Links:
www.snp.org
members.snp.org/policies/economicgrowth/index_html
www.snp.org/campaigns/small-business/business-rate...
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