Small businesses celebrate year-long rates holiday

The recently announced 50% retail discount that applied for shops, cinemas, restaurants, and music venue would be extended to other businesses in the leisure and hospitality sectors, including museums, art galleries, theatres, caravan parks and B&Bs.

Business rates are administered at the local government level, so clear guidance on how firms are deemed eligible for the rates holiday are hard to find.

The earlier retail discounts included a £1,000 business rates discount for pubs in England with a rateable value below £100,000 for one year from 1 April 2020. This discount will be increased to £5,000 to cushion them from coronavirus.

The £1,500 business rates discount for office space used by local newspapers in England will also be extended for five more years until 31 March 2025 and the government promised to bring forward legislation to provide 100% business rates relief for public lavatories in England from April 2020.

Even with the temporary extension of these discounts, “Many of our smallest businesses already pay no business rates, so would not benefit from this policy,” the Chancellor said. “So to support them to manage their fixed costs… I am providing, to any business currently eligible for the small business rates relief (SBRR), a £3,000 cash grant per business.”

The extra cash injection will provide £2.2bn of extra funding to be released through local authorities to around 700,000 business currently eligible for SBRR or Rural Rate Relief.

Local authorities will be fully compensated for these business rates measures, the Chancellor said.

He's also launching a fundamental review, to be concluded at the Autumn Budget, into the long-term future of business rates.