In What is seen by some as delivery upon the government’s manifesto pledge to lower the business rates burden through a £7bn cut, the chancellor of exchequer in United Kingdom Rishi Sunak has announced an array of relief measures for the British businesses hard hit by the pandemic.
In line with recommendations from the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) and the British Retail Consortium, the UK government announced cutting business rates in half for the retail, leisure, and hospitality sectors. which will benefit pubs, cinemas, and restaurants under Chancellor Rishi Sunak’s proposed tax relief, worth an estimated £1.78bn.
Combined with Small Business Rates Relief it will make over 90% of all target businesses see a discount of at least 50%. The relief will however be capped at £110,000 per business.
Emphasizing that tax revenues generate £25bn each year Mr Sunak he ruled out scrapping business rates altogether. Mr Sunak also did not commit a sales tax on online businesses like Amazon m as demanded by several major retail businesses but agreed to start an online sales tax consultation.
In a notable change, the chancellor also announced that business rate re-evaluations will now take place once every three years, instead of once every five years. The government has meanwhile cancelled next year’s increase in the rates multiplier.
There are also many changes in alcohol duties which promises to bring the cost of a pint in the pub down by 3p “permanently”. Alcohol will now be taxed based on its strength bringing relief to small producers making cider and other alcoholic drinks that are less than 8.5% ABV. Sparkling wines will pay the same duty as still wines of equivalent strength, rather than the current rate of 28%
