Today marks the start of Edinburgh’s Festival Fringe, with visitors flocking to the Scottish capital and filling up in-demand rental accommodation.
However, findings released on the eve of the world’s biggest arts festival show that private landlords in the city will dodge having to pay over £10 million in tax as they flog their properties to punters.
The loophole is simple: with landlords renting out homes, many will not have to pay business rates under the Scottish Government’s Small Business Bonus Scheme. The scheme denotes that if a property’s rateable value as a business is less than £15,000, the Government offers full relief from any tax payment.
The research, published by Andy Wightman, a Scottish Green Party MSP, found that 83 per cent of short-term lets in Edinburgh fall within this bracket and are therefore not liable for non-domestic rates. The research reports that around £6m is not collected in tax – money that could provide a vital boost to the cost of the city’s under pressure public services.
Meanwhile, it’s estimated that £4m in public money is lost, with only half of the holiday-rental landlords declaring that their properties operate commercially.
It’s time to give the council the powers to protect the availability of residential accommodation for the citizens of the city
Mr Wightman is demanding a review of the system after having been “inundated” with the concerns of his constituents regarding the matter.
