UK Chancellor, Philip Hammond, has indicated that the government could use the Spring Budget to alleviate the impact of changes to business rates. Speaking to the party's influential 1922 committee, he said he was “alive” to the impact the changes will have on some high street shops and was “open” about ways to help.
He is now likely to use next month’s Budget to lengthen the transitional period for companies that will face an increase in rates. However, it has emerged small firms could face a further 8 per cent rise in business rates in two years' time, as new legislation will give elected Mayors the power to apply business rate "supplements" from April 2019.
Writing in the Telegraph, Executive Director of the Adam Smith Institute, Sam Bowman, says the government should push ahead with its revaluation – “or replace rates altogether with something politically easier to manage.” Meanwhile, David Smith in the Times suggests that a tax that leads to “increases that threaten the survival of those it is imposed on, is a tax that clearly does not work.”
A separate report has revealed that thousands of firms across England and Wales were taken to court last year for non-payment of their business rates. Nearly 200,000 businesses had been summoned to court – one in every eight businesses on average, with an even higher proportion in London.
Specialist advisers to UK businesses
At Beavis Morgan, we have extensive experience of providing specialist advice and planning to small and medium sized (SME) businesses across a range of sectors, including retail. We work with our clients to put processes in place which make it easier to run your business and to maintain effective management of your company’s working capital. We also assist with management accounts, enabling better control of your financial situation and awareness of the business in real time, enhancing planning for the peaks and troughs.
We are on hand to assist you to remain profitable and increase your net worth.
Contact Steve Govey or your usual Beavis Morgan Partner for further information about how we can assist you and your business.
Keep up to date with news and views from the Spring Budget as it arises.