Labour leader has called for Britain’s
shoppers to back small businesses today on Small Business
Saturday by buying local.
highlights the importance of
SMEs to the economy, which account for over three fifths of
private sector employment (16.3 million).
Labour has committed to freezing Business Rates until the next
revaluation, benefitting sectors like retail and hospitality who
have been hit the hardest by this tax; and to increase 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.
The Party has also gone further by pledging to scrap the business
rates system entirely in the first term of a Labour government,
replacing it with "a new system of business taxation fit for the
21st century by shifting the burden of business taxes to create a
level playing field between high street businesses and online
giants."
Showing their support for SMEs around the country, Labour’s
Shadow Cabinet will visit businesses from Barnet to Cardiff
today. This comes as Labour’s Shadow Business Secretary
revealed on Friday
that thousands of British businesses are currently paying
out more on debt than they are taking in sales.
, Leader of the Labour Party
said:
“Small and medium-sized businesses are the backbone of the
British economy.
“Despite Government tax rises and growing costs to firms, small
businesses owners up and down the country have adapted and
continued to do the UK proud.
“I am delighted to be supporting small businesses across the
UK this Small Business Saturday, and urge everyone to do the
same.”
, Labour’s Shadow Business
Secretary said:
“Small businesses are vital to our economic growth, and it’s
great to be able to celebrate the great work they do today.
“I’m delighted to be out in bustling Bury Market today shopping
and meeting shop owners. As we look ahead to our Christmas
shopping, I want to encourage people to buy local and support our
fantastic small businesses.”
Ends
Notes to Editors
1. Data on SMEs taken from
the Federation of Small Business’https://www.fsb.org.uk/uk-small-business-statistics.html
2. Data on turnover - £2.3bn:
www.statista.com/statistics/687367/uk-sme-turnover
3. Labour have said the party
will freeze Business Rates until the next revaluation,
benefitting sectors like retail and hospitality who hit the most
by this tax; and increase 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.
4. The party have said they
would pay for this one year cut by increasing the UK Digital
Services Tax from two percent to 12 per cent, raising £2.1
billion.
5. After that the party have
said they would scrap the current system and reform it completely
into a new form of business property taxation that shifts the
burden away from high street businesses and onto online giants,
many of which pay neither business rates nor corporation tax
currently. The receipts for the incoming global minimum rate of
corporate tax will also help finance this new form of business
property taxation.
6. The party have set out
four principles of this new system.
a. It would always
incentivise business investment, especially in those areas that
contribute towards decarbonising the economy
b. It would reduce
uncertainty for business, through more frequent revaluations and
through instant reductions in bills when property values fall
c. It would reward rather
than punish entrepreneurship, with incentives for businesses that
move into empty premises
d. It would reward local
government for the great work they do to promote economic growth,
while guaranteeing funding for local public services.
7. Data on debt repayments in
relation to turnover comes from the ONS's fortnightly business
survey.
8. Business insights and
impacts on the UK economy, wave 43, November 2021,https://www.ons.gov.uk/releases/businessinsightsandimpactontheukeconomy2december2021
9. Number of businesses
estimated using BEIS business population estimates
October 2021, https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/business-population-estimates
