A Bristol-based Rating expert has called for joined-up thinking on business rates after a report published yesterday by the Department for Business, Innovation & Skills (BIS) argued that they are not fit for purpose and need a complete overhaul.
Rohan Short, Head of Rating at CBRE Bristol, said: “This report is the second in as many weeks calling for changes to the business rates tax with focus upon the retail sector. The Government will not reintroduce the 2015 Revaluation, which it has postponed until 2017.
“It is clear that the current system is broken and unfair, and that the Government is blinkered by the revenue generated by the tax and is ignoring the impact upon business growth, with the retail sector suffering more than most. The Government now has a real opportunity to listen to business and industry experts and bring about reform.”
The committee of MPs that carried out the review believe the system for calculating business rates should be based on sales rather than the rateable value of a property, and that the retail sector should have its own system of taxation.
