"High street shops, pharmacies and music venues have called on Rachel Reeves to axe the looming increases to business rates for them as well as pubs. The government is expected to announce a climbdown on the increases to business rates bills faced by pubs in England in the coming days. Landlords and pub owners have been fiercely critical of the impending hikes, with more than 1,000 pubs banning Labour MPs from their premises."
"But other lobby groups and backbench MPs have urged the government to widen the relief, saying many other kinds of businesses will not be able to pay the higher bills. In her November Budget, the chancellor scaled back business rate discounts that have been in force since the pandemic from 75% to 40%, and announced that there would be no discount at all from April. That, combined with big upward adjustments to rateable values of pub premises,"
"The BBC understands the climbdown will apply only to pubs and not the whole hospitality sector. The British Independent Retailers Association (Bira) questioned why its members - which include high street shops, restaurants and cafes would not be given the same relief. Its chief executive Andrew Goodacre said independent retailers "face exactly the same challenges as pubs but have been left out of discussions about additional support"."
High street shops, pharmacies and music venues urged Rachel Reeves to cancel planned business rates increases for pubs and similar businesses. The government is expected to limit increases only for pubs after landlords and pub owners protested and over 1,000 pubs banned Labour MPs. Lobby groups and MPs warned many other businesses cannot absorb higher bills. The chancellor reduced pandemic business rate discounts from 75% to 40% in November and plans to remove discounts from April, while rateable value increases for pub premises raised potential liabilities. Independent retailers and hoteliers said a pubs-only carve-out would be unfair and costly.
Read at www.bbc.com
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