One of Scotland’s richest men has urged Humza Yousaf to copy Ireland’s low tax system to spur growth north of the English border.
Sir Tom Hunter called on the SNP to make Scotland a 15% corporate tax zone for high-growth sectors such as renewable energy, life sciences and artificial intelligence.
He told The Telegraph this morning: “We’ve got to set out where the next growth sectors are, so that we can get the next Apple, the next Google in Scotland.”
Sir Tom, who sold his sports retailing business for £290million in the late 1990s, said slashing taxes for select sectors was the right approach.
He added: “Corporation tax is one piece of that jigsaw. These companies could go anywhere so we’ve got to give them a low-rate tax regime, a highly skilled and motivated workforce and regulation that fits in with them. All of these things are what Ireland did.”
Introducing a new report, Lessons from Ireland for Scotland's Economy, by Oxford Economics, Sir Tom said: "Ireland drives foreign direct investment with multiple incentives, not least a 12.5% Corporation Tax rate moving to 15% in 2025. In 2021 this drove 249 such investments, compared to Scotland's 122.
Sir Tom Hunter has told Humza Yousaf to learn from Ireland
"From 2012-22 Ireland's GDP (gross domestic product) grew on average 8.9% per annum, compared to Scotland's rather-anaemic 0.9%. They are home to nine out of the top 10 pharmaceutical companies in the world and 14 of the 15 top medtech companies."
Sir Tom added: "Here's my suggestion to Holyrood and Westminster - make all of Scotland a 15% corporate tax zone for three key global growth sectors: renewables and low carbon manufacture and services; life sciences and medical technologies and software; and big data and AI.
"The Irish experience tells us we will net more tax, more jobs and more value from this highly-focused approach."
The 62-year-old has previously been highly critical of the SNP’s record on the economy, saying earlier this year that Scotland was seen as “not investable”.
Sir Tom said that there had been some improvement under Mr Yousaf, who took over from Nicola Sturgeon, but it was too early to judge his performance.
He said: “Our previous First Minister didn’t really engage with business to the detriment of Scotland. Frankly, the new First Minister is at least listening to business. He’s making himself available.”