Britain’s ‘invidious’ business rates system is stifling investment and must be reformed, according to Britain’s biggest business lobby group.
John Cridland, the director general of the Confederation of British Industry, said the tax had drawn the ire of companies around the world.
The CBI argues that it should be limited in line with the Consumer Price Index (CPI), which rose by 1.2% this year, rather than the retail price index (RPI), which includes housing costs such as mortgages and council tax and rose by 2.3%. Cridland said that the current system was clunky and outdated.
Business rates are currently the Treasury’s sixth biggest revenue stream, rising to almost £27bn this year.
Meanwhile, the CBI has also thrown its support behind plans to build a road tunnel beneath Stonehenge.
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