- Scotland has handed Donald Trump’s luxury Turnberry hotel a £110,000 tax cut
- The five-star hotel on the coast of Ayrshire had a 13.5 per cent reduction in its normal annual business rates bill of £811,850 as a result of the measure
- The Scottish rebate came into force in February when hoteliers and restaurant owners complained about a rise in property taxes of up to 400 per cent
Scotland has handed Donald Trump’s luxury Turnberry hotel a £110,000 tax cut designed to help companies struggling because of business rate increases.
The five-star hotel on the coast of Ayrshire had a 13.5 per cent reduction in its normal annual business rates bill of £811,850 as a result of the measure.
The Scottish rebate came into force in February when hoteliers and restaurant owners complained about a rise in property taxes of up to 400 per cent.
Complaints had been most intense in north-east Scotland, a region hit hard by the fall in oil prices.
Figures reveal the Trump Turnberry hotel, where suites cost up to £815 a night, had its property tax cut by £109,530 as a result of the rebate
However Scottish lawmakers said Trump’s flagship hotel’s rebate highlighted the unfairness of the property tax system.
They said it was not set up to help businesses making a profit or unaffected by the economic downturn.
Patrick Harvie, the Scottish Green party leader, told The Guardian: ‘Trump’s brand is toxic. It’s bad enough that he has a business presence in Scotland. It’s galling to learn that the public purse is giving him a helping hand.’
Lewis Macdonald, a Labour MSP for north-east Scotland who called for emergency help after the region’s economy was hit by the downturn in oil prices, said: ‘The Turnberry case highlights the unfairness of the current system and the urgent need for reform.’
Donald Trump (pictured at Turnberry last year) said the hotel and its golf course was doing ‘unbelievably’ well
In addition to this Ralph Porciani, the golf resort’s general manager, previously said he was expecting a rise in profits for 2016 and 2017, with revenues of up to 20 per cent higher than the £16 million Turnberry earned in 2007.
Trump also boasted how Turnberry and its golf course were doing ‘unbelievably’ well because the pound had gone down since the Brexit vote.
When the billionaire officially reopened the resort the day after the EU referendum in June, he said: ‘If the pound goes down, more people are coming to Turnberry. I think it could very well turn out to be a positive.’