The end of business rates relief will sting hospitality with a £928m bill in April, unless the Government addresses the looming cliff edge, according to UK Hospitality.
Hospitality and leisure businesses face their bills quadrupling, totalling tens of thousands of pounds per venue, if business rates relief ends as planned on 31 March.
UKHospitality is calling for the Chancellor to introduce a new lower, permanent and universal rate for hospitality’s business rates at the Budget on 30 October.
The current business rates system unfairly penalises hospitality, with the sector paying three times more than it should do. Labour, in its manifesto, committed to replacing the business rates system and level the playing field between the high street and online giants.
A lower, permanent and universal rate, or ‘multiplier’, for hospitality would be a critical first step to deliver that change.
Kate Nicholls, Chief Executive of UKHospitality, said: “Hospitality businesses are facing a devastating cliff-edge next April, when many will see their bills quadruple.
“The scale of this almost billion-pound tax bombshell is just not viable. Many will face risk of closure, be forced to let people go to stay afloat, or shelve their investment plans.
“None of those outcomes are good for the people we employ, the communities we serve, or the economic growth the Government wants to deliver.
“There has to be a solution that avoids this cliff edge, and a lower, permanent and universal multiplier for hospitality would deliver that.
“Not only would it give certainty and stability to businesses, but it would allow the Government to begin delivering on its own manifesto commitment.
“The dangers of not acting are stark – whether you’re a pub, coastal hotel or soft play centre for kids and families.
“At the Budget, the Chancellor can choose to act and take the brakes off the sector’s growth by avoiding this cliff-edge. I hope she does just that because inaction could be fatal.”
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