![\"Stephen](\"https:\/\/dailybusinessgroup.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/Stephen-Montgomery.png\")
A trade group has highlighted how the current business rates valuation system disproportionately penalises licensed hospitality.<\/p>\n
The Scottish Hospitality Group (SHG) has pointed to one Scottish high street where firms of solicitors, accountants, travel agents and funeral directors are protected by the Small Business Bonus Scheme. <\/p>\n
The only businesses that do not meet the \u00a312,000 are licensed hospitality sectors, forcing them, to pay higher rates.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat is not fairness; it is a structural imbalance, leaving licensed premises picking up the bill for
all local services, said Stephen Montgomery, director of the SHG.<\/p>\n
He said this is being replicated across towns and villages nationwide, with hospitality out of reach of reliefs because of how hospitality is assessed.<\/p>\n
The group has warned that Scotland\u2019s latest non-domestic rates revaluation, due for implementation in April 2026 is totally disconnected from the trading reality and looks set to put licensed hospitality businesses at serious risk of closure.<\/p>\n
In the high street assessed in the research, an accountant with a current rateable value (RV) of \u00a32,750 will see it rise to \u00a33,100 and will qualify for the Small Business Bonus Scheme as will a solicitor which will see its RV rise from \u00a35,000 to \u00a35,800.<\/p>\n
However, a pubic house on the same street will see its rates rise from \u00a324,000 to \u00a353,000.<\/p>\n
\u201cLicensed hospitality feels like a convenient revenue source rather than a partner in
local economies,\u201d said Mr Montgomery.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Scottish Hospitality Group is urging the Scottish Government to use the
Scottish Budget to deliver urgent action, including meaningful rates relief targeted for
licensed hospitality.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe support a commitment to affordability and ability to pay as core principles of the
non-domestic rates system.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis Budget is a real test. If the Scottish Government are serious about protecting jobs, town centres and economic resilience, non-domestic rates reform for licensed hospitality must move from rhetoric to reality.\u201d<\/p>\n
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