Update on business rates (England)

29/10/21

The UK Government has concluded its fundamental review of business rates in England.

A major priority for us throughout the review was retaining Charitable Rate Relief at 80% because any reduction to this relief would have had an adverse impact on the amount charity shops could raise for good causes. Together with the Charity Tax Group, Charity Finance Group and NCVO we successfully lobbied to retain this important relief for charity shops.

Below is a summary of the outcomes of the Government’s review:

• No change to Charitable Rate Relief with the Government concluding that the “system of reliefs plays a vital role in ensuring the overall sustainability and fairness of the tax”
• Retail, Leisure and Hospitality businesses will be eligible for a 50% temporary reduction in business rate bills in the next tax year. Note that this relief is capped at a maximum of £110,000 per company or charity. More details to follow
• The business rates multiplier will be frozen until April 2023.
• Moving to three-yearly revaluations from 2023
• Providing an additional £0.5 billion for the Valuation Office Agency to upgrade their systems, particularly IT
• Considering the arguments for and against an Online Sales Tax to raise revenue to fund business rate reductions. A Government consultation will be published shortly

You can access the Government’s final report on the review here.