Thousands of retailers benefitting from £1,000 business rates discount

Around 300,000 retail premises across the UK have benefitted from more than £272 million of tax relief this year, says the new High Streets Minister Penny Mordaunt.

Speaking at the annual high street retailers conference, the Minister said: “A typical small business could now be saving 30% extra or more compared to last year’s bill.”

Announced 6 months ago, the business rates discount was part of a number of measures revealed to support small businesses. Occupiers of retail premises that have been empty for over a year can receive a 50% discount for 18 months, while businesses can also pay bills over 12 months instead of 10, helping with cash flow.

Other measures include a 2% cap on business rate inflation, the £1,000 business rates discount and a doubling of the extension of the small business rate relief until 31st March 2015.

These measures were brought in as part of the governments long-term economic plan to support businesses with lower taxes. The Minister suggested that this would be hugely beneficial to small businesses: “We must help all respond to the needs and wants of the consumer so the high street remains at the heart of our communities.”

The government released figures this week that showed which areas of the countries had the most businesses benefitting from the discounted retail rates. 5,000 Birmingham businesses are believed to be receiving the discount, as well as 2,400 in Bradford, 2,270 in Brighton and 3,920 in Cornwall to name just a few.

Click here to find out how many businesses in your area!

Although these are just a small part of the plans to rejuvenate British high streets, the Minister sees this as the biggest change in around two decades: “We announced the biggest package of business rates support in over 20 years to support local shops, pubs, cafes and restaurants. Overall, this is worth £1 billion to business, with half of that backing high street shops and retailers in England.”
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