Scottish businesses face a £180m rates surcharge over the next three years, according to the Scottish Retail Consortium (SRC).

The Scotland-only higher business rates on firms occupying medium-sized and larger commercial premises will enter its eighth year of operation next week.

The Large Business Rates Supplement in Scotland was doubled to 2.6p in the pound, but remains 1.2p in the pound lower in England.

It was subsequently rebranded as the Higher Property Rate (HPR), and was described as “damaging perceptions” of Scotland’s competitiveness by the Barclay Rates Review, which called for parity with England to be restored by 2020.

The Scottish Government’s 2021 Framework for Tax has pledged to restore parity with England by the end of the current parliamentary term, in 2026.

The SRC is now calling for that timeline to be accelerated.

The surcharge currently applies to 11,570 commercial and industrial premises, of which 2,390 are shops, 580 are hotels, and 1,760 are offices.

Meanwhile, shops and hospitality businesses in Scotland will miss out on the enhanced temporary rates relief which is being made available to counterparts in Wales and England during 2023-24.

Commenting ahead of the new business rates financial year which begins on April 1, David Lonsdale, director of the SRC, said: “Scottish Ministers have made some headway on business rates including freezing the headline poundage rate for the coming year and introducing more regular commercial property revaluations.

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