The Scottish Liberal Democrats have released a new poll showing that 40% of Scots expect an increase in the number of closures among small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs) in their local area because of the government’s decision to raise employers’ National Insurance contributions.

The polling also showed that more than half (55%) of Scots think that costs will increase at local SMEs, with almost one in five (17%) expecting them to increase a lot, and 37% believing that the number of jobs at local SMEs will fall too.

Meanwhile, a quarter of Scots (25%) said that they thought the tax changes would impact their spending habits at SMEs, too.

Of those, more than half (53%) said that they would be cutting back on their Christmas shopping at SMEs, while 45% said that they would visit their local high streets less, and 34% admitted that they would shop at larger stores.

Liberal Democrat Scottish affairs spokesperson Christine Jardine MP said: “Many small businesses across Scotland have already sounded the alarm over the government’s misguided national insurance hike, and this research lays bare just how worried people are about the damage it will do to local employers.

“The new government needs to urgently scrap this jobs tax and instead focus on how they can help small businesses, not burden them with more costs.”

In the new Chancellor’s maiden Budget, the government proposed changes to employer National Insurance contributions to take effect from the next financial year in an effort to capture billions more in revenue, both by reducing the threshold for employers to begin paying contributions, and by raising rates around them.

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In Scotland, the UK Government’s plans have seen mixed reactions, with the Scottish finance secretary, Shona Robinson, insisting that more needs to be done to cover the increased National Insurance rates that the Scottish Government warned might cost the public sector as much as £500 million.

The tax rises are also expected to impact local authorities, with Glasgow City Council estimating that it will cost around an extra £30 million to cover the new National Insurance rates for its employees, with the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities appealing to Holyrood for more support.