Retail titans urge Chancellor to cut business rates by a fifth

Major British retailers including Tesco, Sainsbury’s and Marks & Spencer have urged Rachel Reeves to slash business rates by a fifth.

More than 70 high street bosses called on the Chancellor to cut retail property taxes amid fears of shop closures.

In a letter to Reeves ahead of the October 30 Budget, the retail titans said their industry pays ‘more than its fair share’ and has been the ‘golden goose’ for the tax office.

But the Chancellor has said there is a £22billion black hole in the government’s finances, which cast doubt over business rates reform in the Budget.

Simon Roberts, the chief executive of Sainsbury’s, Tesco UK boss Matthew Barnes, and M&S CEO Stuart Machin are among the signatories. alongside the bosses of H&M, Asda, B&Q, Morrisons, Currys, Primark and WH Smith.

The sector pays 7.4 per cent of all business taxes – equivalent to £33billion – and one fifth of that is made up of business rates, they said. The group, which included the bosses of Aldi and Asos, have asked for a 20 per cent reduction to business rates bills for retail properties everywhere.

Business rates are a levy based on the value of a commercial property – meaning shops pay a premium compared with online giants.

Labour has pledged reforms and said the system ‘disincentivises investment, creates uncertainty and places an undue burden on our high streets’. In its manifesto, the party promised to ‘replace the business rates system, so we can raise the same revenue but in a fairer way’.

British Retail Consortium chief executive Helen Dickinson said: ‘Retail has been the golden goose, but the current situation is not sustainable.

‘The Government should act to rebalance the system.’ She warned that more than 1,000 shops a year are closing.

UK Hospitality said last month that firms face a ‘devastating cliff edge’ in April when the tax break – introduced during the Covid-era – ends.

A Treasury spokesman said: ‘The Government’s manifesto committed to a fairer business rates system which levels the playing field between the high street and online giants.’

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