Retailers warn Chancellor against 400m business rates hike

29th September 2023

A group of 44 retail leaders have written to Jeremy Hunt to halt an inflation-based increase to property tax bills. Bosses of a raft of Britain's biggest retailers, such as Tesco, M&S and B&Q, have urged the Chancellor to freeze their property taxes to avoid a roughly £400 million hike.

The letter, which has been co-ordinated by the British Retail Consortium, said a rise would be "threatening the viability of many shops and hindering the industry's capacity to invest". Currently, business rates are planned to increase in April 2024 in line with the inflation figure for September. This figure is due to be announced in October and is currently forecast at about 6%.

The BRC said this would amount to an increase of more than £400m a year to retailers' business rates bills.

It highlighted that an increase at that level would also put more pressure on pricing in stores, as the Chancellor and Prime Minister seek to meet their pledge of halving inflation this year.

See the full artilce: Retailers warn Chancellor against £400m business rates hike | The Independent

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