Business rates relief to be slashed – how to cut costs

Labour has promised to reform business rates, the corporate equivalent of council tax

Business Owner Calculating His Finances
(Image credit: Getty Images)

Good news and bad on business rates. The positive policy in the Budget was that business-rate reliefs that had been due to end next April will now be extended. Less happily, they will not be so generous, and there is still no detail of Labour’s promised overhaul of the much-criticised business rates system. The headline numbers are worrying. Businesses in the retail, hospitality and leisure sectors are entitled to discounts of up to 75% on their business rates bills under a scheme introduced by the last government during Covid. From next April, these reliefs will come down to only 40%.

Analysis from property group Altus suggests these reductions could prove very costly, with 250,000 high-street premises in England facing an average 140% rise in their bills for the 2025-2026 tax year. The typical shop will see its business rates bill climb from £3,589 to £8,613 next April. The average restaurant will see its bill rise from £5,051 to £12,122.

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David Prosser
Business Columnist

David Prosser is a regular MoneyWeek columnist, writing on small business and entrepreneurship, as well as pensions and other forms of tax-efficient savings and investments. David has been a financial journalist for almost 30 years, specialising initially in personal finance, and then in broader business coverage. He has worked for national newspaper groups including The Financial Times, The Guardian and Observer, Express Newspapers and, most recently, The Independent, where he served for more than three years as business editor.