More than 40 trade associations including the BPF and the CBI have issued a joint call for business rates to be reformed and reduced in this month’s Budget.
The trade groups argue that without a freeze or a cut this month, more businesses would close. They said that such a move by the chancellor would unlock billions of pounds of investment.
The CBI said that rates had “literally become a tax on investment”, while the BRC said that the “sky-high” taxes were not only closing stores but preventing new ones from opening.
The joint statement from the groups said that rates were “uncompetitive, unproductive and unfair”. UK property taxes were four times higher than those in Germany, they said, and 50% higher than the G7 average as a proportion of gross domestic product.
The current system also penalises any investment in plant and machinery – including solar panels – as this is added to the rates bill. A “greener” business rates system should be devised to support the government’s net zero ambition, such as by exempting green plant and machinery and technology such as solar and heat pumps.
Emma McClarkin, chief executive of the British Beer and Pub Association, said the sector was “overpaying by as much as £570m before Covid and cannot afford to be shouldering this unfair burden any longer”.
