Business rates relief is unlikely to be on the menu in this week’s Autumn Statement.
Government insiders have signalled that the chancellor will not bend on calls for a delay in the uprating of business rates or an extension of relief on the tax.
From April, business rates are expected to be uprated by the consumer prices index measure of inflation, which as of September stood at 10.1%. On top of this, shops, restaurants, cafés, bars, pubs, cinemas and gyms, are benefiting from 50% relief, which is due to expire on 1 April. The government has also implied that it will press ahead with a revaluation, which will be based on April 2021 rental values.
A report published by the Confederation of British Industry last week suggested that the retail sector faces increases of up to 25% over the next two years.
