ACS (the Association of Convenience Stores) has welcomed an announcement that a revaluation of business rates has been postponed.
The Non Domestic Rating (Lists) Bill 2019-20 was introduced to bring the date of the next revaluation forward from 2022 to 2021.
Today (6th May) Communities Secretary Robert Jenrick announced that the scheduled revaluation will no longer take place in 2021 to help ease uncertainty for firms affected by the coronavirus.
ACS chief executive James Lowman said: “Business rates are one of the biggest financial and administrative burdens faced by retailers and due to the current crisis local shops are already under immense pressure and the full extent of the impact of COVID-19 is currently unknown.
“We welcome the decision to postpone the revaluation as this will give local shops more time to recover from the impact of coronavirus and will provide retailers with much-needed certainty of tax liabilities during this unprecedented time.”
The Government has introduced a range of measures to support businesses with the disruption caused by the coronavirus outbreak.
ACS has developed a briefing for local shops which details the support that has been made available, more information is available here.
