Up-rate business rate reviews, says BBPA
By: JimOldfield
July 10th, 2016
The British Beer & Pub Association is backing a Government proposal to smarten up business rate revaluations to at least a three-yearly cycle.
In a proposal to the Government, the BBPA has set out a plan for a new, more flexible self-assessment model, to help avoid extra costs for the pub sector.
The call comes in a BBPA submission to the Government’s consultation on the issue.
The BBPA points out that business rates already make up approximately 10 per cent of pub operating costs. The rates are at present theoretically calculated on a business’s ‘Fair Maintainable Turnover’… the level of revenue that a reasonably efficient operator would be able to generate in the premises.
But in practice, rates can be based on actual turnover, and this can penalise successful businesses that are performing beyond expectations, says the BBPA.
The association wants the business rates system to focus on FMT, whilst increasing the frequency of revaluations to make sure that rates remian more representative of any given period.
The BBPA is also calling for a light-touch approach when it comes to compliance and enforcement of any new scheme; one that does not penalise genuine mistakes or self-assessments put forward in good faith that are subsequently disputed.
BBPA Chief Executive Brigid Simmonds said: “We have always believed that the pub sector needs more frequent rates revaluations, which is essential in ensuring that the business rates burden is spread more fairly and better reflects the current market.
“The self-assessment approach that we are putting forward offers both pubs and the Government a way of achieving this in an efficient way that would be good for both.”
You can read the full submission here
