Non-domestic Rates

(asked on 3rd September 2019) - View Source

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of (1) the effectiveness, and (2) the fairness of the current system of business rates; and what plans they have to change the current system.


Answered by
Earl of Courtown Portrait
Earl of Courtown
Captain of the Queen's Bodyguard of the Yeomen of the Guard (HM Household) (Deputy Chief Whip, House of Lords)
This question was answered on 9th September 2019

Business rates currently raise £25 billion per year in England, and are an important source of funding for key local services such as adult social care and children’s services.

The Government concluded a fundamental review of business rates in 2016, and respondents agreed that property based taxes were easy to collect, difficult to avoid, relatively stable and clearly linked with local authority spending.

In line with stakeholder responses, the Government therefore decided to keep business rates as a property tax.

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