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BRC hails UK Treasury Select Committee report on biz rates

02
Nov '19

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Welcoming the recent British Treasury Select Committee (TSC) report on business rates, the British Retail Consortium (BRC) has said any party that wants to support local high streets should commit to implementing the committee’s reforms as a first step. BRC chief executive Helen Dickinson urged political parties to include TSC recommendations in their manifestos.

“Business rates are a significant driver of store closures and job losses and retailers have been getting a raw deal for too long. While retail accounts for 5 per cent of the economy, it pays 25 per cent of the business rates. Such imbalances can be seen in transitional relief–identified by the committee as needing reform–which takes £1.3 billion from retailers and redistributes most of it to other industries,” Dickinson said in a statement.

“While the Committee is right to recommend that Government reviews alternatives to the broken business rates system, it must not do this in isolation. Any review must look at the whole suite of business taxation with the aim of creating a tax system that is fit for the 21st century,” he added.

In August, 50 UK retailers wrote to the Chancellor calling for fixing transitional relief, which currently forces many retailers to pay more than they should; introducing an ‘improvement relief’ for ratepayers; and ensuring that the Valuation Office Agency is fully resourced to do its job.

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (DS)

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