Non-domestic tax rates on land with sporting rights: FOI release

FOI reference: FOI/17/02293
Date received: 5 October 2017
Date responded: 31 October 2017

Information requested

The following information:

• The total cost of carrying out the valuation of land with sporting rights to the Scottish Government

• The anticipated budget for dealing with appeals arising from the valuation of land with sporting rights

• The anticipated tax revenue to be generated with the introduction of non-domestic rates on land with sporting rights

• A breakdown by region for the number of those who have a rateable value of greater than £15,000 on land with sporting rights

• A breakdown by region for the number of those who have a rateable value of less than £15,000 on land with sporting rights

Response

I enclose a copy of some of the information you requested, relating to the final three bullet points in your request.

The estimated non-domestic rates income for shootings and deer forests is around £4 million annually, subject to rates relief.

The table below provides a breakdown by local authority area of the number of shootings and deer forests with rateable value up to £15,000 and with rateable value over £15,000. This data is from the valuation rolls as at 10 October 2017.

It should be noted that not all properties with rateable value up to £15,000 are necessarily eligible for 100% relief under the Small Business Bonus Scheme.

Local authority area	Number of shootings and deer forests
	Rateable value up to £15,000	Rateable value over £15,000
Aberdeen City	17	0
Aberdeenshire	951	0
Angus	563	2
Argyll & Bute	710	17
Clackmannanshire	43	0
Dumfries & Galloway	813	4
Dundee City	5	0
East Ayrshire	359	0
East Dunbartonshire	46	0
East Lothian	78	0
East Renfrewshire	32	0
Edinburgh City	9	0
Eilean Siar	52	6
Falkirk	99	0
Fife	473	0
Glasgow City	0	0
Highland	1,838	30
Inverclyde	12	0
Midlothian	22	0
Moray	183	0
North Ayrshire	191	1
North Lanarkshire	45	0
Orkney Islands	372	0
Perth & Kinross	850	3
Renfrewshire	29	0
Scottish Borders	1,047	3
Shetland Islands	294	0
South Ayrshire	360	1
South Lanarkshire	238	0
Stirling	384	5
West Dunbartonshire	38	0
West Lothian	21	0
Total	10,174	72

While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance the Scottish Government does not have some of the information you have requested. The reasons why we don't have the information are explained below.

Reasons for not providing information

The Scottish Government does not have the information in the first two bullet points of your request. Rating valuation and associated local appeal processes are funded by local government, and the Scottish Government does not have cost information broken down by property types.

This is a formal notice under section 17(1) of FOISA that the Scottish Government does not hold the information you have requested.

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