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Calls for Scotch tax to share wealth
By Becky PaskinA tax should be placed on bottles of Scotch, forcing the whisky industry to share its wealth with the rest of Scotland, an economic advisor has claimed.
Will a “Scotch tax” damage overseas sales?It’s thought that the success of Scotch exports, which are worth more than £4bn annually, should be passed onto the rest of Scotland.
As such, Professor John Kay, who has served on the Scottish government’s Council of Economic Advisers, believes a tax should be placed on every bottle of Scotch to boost Holyrood’s budget.
He suggests placing a £1 tax on every bottle of Scotch, which would generate an additional £1bn for the government.
In ‘Scotched Earth’, a programme created for BBC Scotland being broadcast tonight, Professor Kay said: “I think the benefits to Scotland from the whisky industry are really quite disappointing.”
He added: “The largest producers are not based in Scotland. Their profits go mostly to people who are not resident in Scotland. They don’t pay much tax in Scotland, and we don’t think they pay much tax in the UK.”
The programme claims the industry, which is worth £5bn, spends £500m on paying less than 11,000 employees and £1.5bn on supplies, leaving £3bn in profits, minus capital.
However Peter Lederer, director of Diageo in Scotland, which has invested £1bn into increasing Scotch production over five years, said: “If the argument in an economy is to take a successful business and keep taxing it because it’s successful, then I think that gives the wrong impression.”