Chancellor has today unveiled his Budget for 2021.
In response, Mark Bridgeman, President of the Country
Land & Business Association which represents 28,000 rural
businesses across England and Wales, said:
VAT cut extended for further six months
“The extension of the 5% VAT rate is a lifeline for many small
tourism and hospitality businesses who have faced crippling
consequences of the Covid-19 pandemic. It will allow tens of
thousands of businesses breathing space to begin their recovery
in 2021, further boosted by hopes of a bumper summer season as
lockdown restrictions are eased further.
“But the extension is a short-term crisis response. Government
should now begin thinking of how the UK’s tourism and hospitality
sectors can thrive in the long term. If we are to compete with
other major tourism destinations in Europe – all of whom have VAT
rates far below 20% - the UK’s VAT rate should remain at 5%
permanently. We estimate this move would add £4.5bn to the
national economy, leading to more demand, more investment and
more good jobs being created.”
Business rates
“The past 12 months has led to huge changes in the performance of
many rural businesses especially in the leisure, hospitality and
tourism sectors, with reduced turnover combined with extra costs
of sanitisation. Therefore, an extension of the Business Rates
holiday until the end of June is welcome news for the sector and
is something the CLA has been lobbying intensively for.”
