Carmichael welcomes UK Government's tax cut for 70,000 Scottish businesses

Today the UK Government unveils its National Insurance Contributions Bill which will give a £2000 a year tax cut to around 70,000 Scottish businesses and will take 35,000 out of paying Employers' NICs altogether. This picture from the Treasury explains all about it:

New Secretary of State for Scotland Alistair Carmichael welcomed the move, saying:

Small businesses are the engine room of our communities and the economy in Scotland.  For them, a £2,000 per year tax cut will be a welcome boost, I hope. It will in fact cut the need for some 35,000 Scottish businesses to pay national insurance contributions at all.

I hope this will send a signal to the business community that we are on their side and want to see them play the fullest part in re-building our economy.