By Scott Wright
SCOTS firms will be hit with “draconian” fines if they fail to respond to information requests under new property tax laws, it has been claimed.
The Non-Domestic Rates (Scotland) Bill, which will be debated by the Scottish Parliament on Tuesday, introduces a sliding scale of charges for businesses which fail to respond to information requests from assessors. The information is used to calculate business rates bills.
Under the legislation, businesses which do not respond to information requests within 28 days will be issued with a penalty notice, comprising a flat fee of £200 plus 1% of the rateable value of their property. If there is still no response within 28 days of the penalty notice being issued, a further fine of £1,000 plus 20% of the rateable value is levied.
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Then, if a further 28 days passes and the business has not responded, the Bill, as it stands, provides that a penalty notice of the full rateable value is issued. However, a late amendment to this last provision was lodged this week by Scottish ministers. This would see those who fail to provide information within 56 days of the initial penalty notice fined £10,000 plus 50% of the rateable value. The fines are cumulative.
Douglas Lambie, chartered surveyor at Ryden, slammed the fines regime as “draconian”. Noting that there are lots of practical reasons why there might be delays in retrieving information, Mr Lambie said: “What if you are on holiday, or what if you don’t have the figures to hand? It is just a worry.” He added: “Stopping trying to penalise people.”
David Melhuish of the Scottish Property Federation said the fines are “wholly disproportionate to the issue at hand.”
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