Just how ‘radical’ is the Scottish shooting tax?

Asignificant number of scottish landowners may find themselves having to put their hands in their pockets as the snp is finally set to impose the much-talked-about ‘shooting tax’. the new so-called ‘sporting rate’, which estates have been exempt from for 20 years, is part of the controversial ‘land reform project’ and the charges will be imposed irrespective of whether the land is used for shooting.

Liberal Democrat Jim Hume captured rural sentiment when he described the proposals as a ‘political move targeted at the landed gentry’. According to nicola sturgeon, ‘the move will bring an end to a business rate exemption for shooting and deer-stalking estates, which were put in place by the tories in 1994 to protect the interests of major landowners’.

there are fears that this could lead to the break up or closure of some estates. it has even been suggested that the Queen may be charged up to £5 a year for every sporting hectare she owns, along with some 8,000 landowners. Luckily for Her Majesty, however, it should be noted that large estates will qualify for a volume discount, the details of which are not yet known.

there is good news, too, for the more modest landowner, as, due to the small-business rates scheme, estates with a rateable value of under £15,000 will have complete exemption. the published rates per hectare range from £4 for arable land to £5 for woodland. Calum innes, a partner at land-management firm galbraith adds that, despite the uproar, the exemption means a great number of estates will not have to pay anything.

the snp hopes the new tax will raise £4 million for community buyouts, but Mr innes suggests that the rates scheme makes it unlikely this figure will be met. A cynic might conclude that the tax satisfies political sentiment while the business-rate scheme simultaneously allows shooting to thrive; after all, the sport is worth £200 million to the scottish economy and provides 11,000 jobs. Patrick Galbraith