The Chancellor should extend business rate relief for another 12 months to help struggling businesses get back on their feet, Esther McVey has warned.
The Tatton MP hopes the move will be announced in the Budget on Wednesday and believes it would offer a lifeline to businesses and help protect jobs.
She said: “Extending business rate relief for a further year is the right thing to do and could be the difference between surviving or going under. Not having to worry about finding thousands of pounds in rates has been a lifeline to many businesses in the pandemic but we are fast approaching the new financial year, which means rate relief will end. We are still in the midst of the pandemic and are forcing businesses to keep their doors closed so it is wrong to charge them rates, when so many are only just keeping their head above water.”
The Prime Minister has set out his roadmap and businesses expect to reopen between April 12 and June 21, meaning rates would restart before all businesses reopen. Ms McVey would prefer business rates to be abolished and replaced with a fairer system not penalising smaller and independent high street businesses currently disproportionately hit with high rents because of their location. But she said freezing rates immediately was needed while a consultation into how rates could be overhauled took place.
Chancellor Rishi Sunak will set out his Budget on Wednesday, the first financial statement in a year after the Autumn statement was cancelled.
Ms McVey hopes a cut in beer duty to help breweries will also be included, along with extending the cut in VAT on food and soft drinks.
She added: “Pubs are the heart of communities and have been hit hard by the pandemic. These small changes could offer a real lifeline. I also want to see an extension to the VAT reduction to five per cent on food and soft drinks to alleviate the tax burden on businesses. It is vital we do everything we can to get the economy moving again and keep people in jobs.
“I have spoken to many landlords and venue owners who also want the cut extended to alcohol, so I hope this is something the Chancellor will consider. The benefits will be felt across the whole country and it is the right thing to do.”
