Business leaders said yesterday the north-east’s entire economy could suffer as a result of Chancellor George Osborne’s £10billion tax raid on the offshore oil and gas sector.
They said that the UK Government’s decision to raise the supplementary tax rate from 20% to 32% would hit the profits of firms in the hospitality and retail sectors in addition to energy companies.
Aberdeen and Grampian Chamber of Commerce (AGCC), Aberdeen City and Shire Economic Future (Acsef), Scottish Council for Development and Industry (SCDI) and the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) all fear that a drop in North Sea investment will hurt the region’s other important sectors.
The warnings came as the chamber published its latest survey of oil and gas firms.
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