Devastating plans must be ditched'

A WARNING has been sounded that a swathe of pubs, restaurants, shops and cafes will be forced to close due to tax rises, with the SNP urged to take urgent action to stop this happening.

- BY DAVID WALKER Scottish Politics Reporter

Scotland's high streets face a double whammy within months as a nondomestic rates revaluation comes into force from April, leaving many outlets facing higher bills.

This, coupled with the Scottish Government refusing to pass on business rates relief from Westminster in each of the last two years, means business owners are struggling to make ends meet.

Shona Robison will set out her Budget on Tuesday, which is likely to focus on tackling child poverty through extra freebies and more benefits payments.

However, it is feared the SNP Executive will leave wealth creators out in the cold, despite signing a new deal for business when John Swinney became First Minister.

Ministers have been warned they risk killing firms the length and breadth of Scotland unless they ditch plans for "devastating" tax hikes in the tax-and-spending proposals.

It is likely the Budget will pass anyway as Scottish Labour plans to abstain, meaning there are enough Nat MSPs to get it through.

This has seen the Scottish Conservatives write to Finance Secretary Ms Robison demanding a halt to the non-domestic rates (NDR) revaluation - which will see bills for some businesses rise up to 400% - as well as additional support for struggling firms.

The UK Labour government is already U-turning on rates rises south of the border.