Business rates are set to change in April…
The Chancellor Philip Hammond has said he’s “listening” to Conservative MPs concerns over changes to business rates.
The rates are being changed for the first time in seven years, this is so they are in line with property values.
Business groups as well as some MPs have expressed concern over closures to high street stores.
During an 80-minute meeting of the Tory backbench 1922 Committee in Westminster on Monday evening, many MPs faced Hammond regarding businesses within their constituencies which will be hit by heavy tax rises.
The changes are set to come in to force on the 1 April.
Due to the governments revaluation, many ministers say three quarters of business rates will either go down or stay the same. There have been claims that retailers could see a rise of up to 400 per cent.
However, the government has dismissed this as “nonsense” reports that cabinet ministers had underestimated business rate rises of five to seven per cent in a letter sent to Tory MPs.
The private email which came from Local Government Secretary Sajid Javid and Treasury Chief Secretary David Gauke, said: “This year’s revaluation has been preceded by a series of reports claiming that rates are going to soar, that appeals are being banned and that hundreds of thousands of businesses will be forced to close.”
“Such claims are simply untrue.”
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