Labour will tomorrow (Tuesday 19 October) force a vote urging the
Government to cut business rates, and support struggling high
streets as the cost of living crisis continues.
The party have also revealed new figures, based on a breakdown of
data from the Office for National Statistics, that up to 332,000
businesses are at risk across the country, employing over 800,000
people.
With business organisations including the CBI, FSB, British
Chamber of Commerce and over 40 trade associations calling for an
urgent reform of the tax, the cost to businesses from rising
inflation and increasing shortages is making the change more
urgent.
Labour committed at their party conference to cutting and
eventually entirely scrapping business rates and replacing them
with a new form of business taxation fit for the
21st century.
Labour have proposed freezing Business Rates until the next
revaluation, and then increasing the threshold for small business
rates relief (from the current threshold of £15,000 to £25,000),
to give SMEs a discount on their business rates bill for 2022/23,
ahead of more fundamental reform, where the party say they will
scrap business rates entirely and replace them with a new form of
business taxation.
Labour would pay for easing this burden on businesses by raising
the UK Digital Services Tax to 12 per cent for 2022/23, raising
£2.1bn which would be spent on cutting business rates for small
businesses and the high street. In the long term, Labour would
fund the replacement for business rates by shifting the burden of
business taxation away from the high street towards large online
tech giants.
, Labour’s Shadow
Chancellor of the Exchequer, said:
“Our high street businesses do so much to enrich our lives and
our communities, facing huge adversity in the past year.
“They are struggling right now, with a cliff-edge in rates relief
coming up in March, and increasing shortages and supply chain
issues increasing pressure and costs.
“The next Labour government will scrap business rates. We will
carry out the biggest overhaul of business taxation in a
generation, so our businesses can lead the pack, not watch
opportunities go elsewhere.
“Today we are urging MPs to get behind this urgent change, and
back cutting business rates for our brilliant British
businesses.”
Ends
Notes to editors
- Labour’s motion for their Opposition Day Debate tomorrow is
as follows: That this House recognises the importance of
British businesses to high streets and communities across the UK
and the exceptional challenges they face due to the pandemic and
rising costs; regrets the Government’s current plan to end all
temporary support for businesses from April 2022; and calls on
the Government to support businesses by freezing the business
rates multiplier and extending the threshold for small business
rates relief from £15,000 rateable value to £25,000 in 2022/23;
and further calls on the Chancellor of the Exchequer to update
the House in person before January 2022 on his Department’s
assessment of the impact that removing the temporary business
support will have on small businesses.
- On Thursday 14 October, the CBI and 41 trade associations
called on the government to cut business rates: https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2021/oct/14/rishi-sunak-urged-cut-business-rates-unlock-billions-investment
