TAX exemptions for foreign armed forces should be removed in the wake of the US expansion of its military presence in Scotland, the Scottish Greens have said.
Last year, it was revealed by The Ferret that the US had established its first military site in Scotland since the 1990s.
In May, a new base in Lossiemouth, Moray, opened, heralding the return of the US military to Scotland for the first time since the end of the Cold War.
The Scottish Greens have now lodged an amendment to the upcoming Housing (Scotland) Bill, which is currently at stage 2, to remove tax exemptions for foreign militaries.
Currently, foreign forces are exempt from paying Land and Buildings Transaction Tax, previously known as Stamp Duty, when buying property.
“Scotland cannot go back to being a US military outpost,” Greens finance spokesperson Greer said.
“We certainly shouldn’t be exempting them from a tax which everyone else pays when buying property here.
“This tax break only encourages Trump to increase his military presence in Scotland, something we should be trying to avoid.
“His recent attacks on Europe and his alignment with Putin’s Russia make it clear that his government is not our ally.
“Ending this exemption is the fair thing to do. Why should the American military get to avoid paying its fair share?
"Rather than rolling out the red carpet to Trump’s troops, this change would also signal that Scotland stands with the victims of US foreign policy, particularly the people of Ukraine and Palestine.”
The Lossiemouth base has seen the construction of facilities for anti-submarine spy and war planes at the site, funded partially by the US navy.
One expert told The Ferret the move was “profoundly concerning” ahead of President Trump taking over the White House.
It was also revealed that the Scottish Government was not consulted on the stationing of US war planes at Lossiemouth.
The UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) denied there was a new US military “base” in Scotland, but that it was a US “presence” with a “US naval detachment”.
Scotland was home to several US military bases from the 1960s to the 1990s.
This included nuclear-armed submarines at the Holy Loch on the Clyde, and sites on the Mull of Kintyre and in Edzell in Aberdeenshire.
There is also an ongoing US military presence at Prestwick Airport, which is regularly used as a rest and refuelling stop for transatlantic flights.
