Tuesday 28 October 2014

Business Rates reform to be ignored again?

One of the most annoying things about Politics at the moment is that with an election coming up and the rise of 4-party politics, there is complete dropping of all sensible discussion about long-term matters.

A good example of this today is business rates - a system currently designed to keep high streets empty or full of charity shops. Wherever you live in the Country, you are exposed to the detrimental effects of this policy.

Many Government look at this and just run away, the reform is likely to be negative for the Government tax take so there is no interest. Parallel discussions about the need to equalise the tax take from online and high street companies also then get annoyingly ignored.

Meanwhile hand wringing about a billion here or there to Brussels dominates or the impossibility of future funding for the NHS. These are of course real issues to, but it seems to the exclusion of all else. Reform of the Income tax system would fall into this category too - too hard to deal with and no votes in it.

It has then made me think that this position will get worse, the current polls point to another coalition or minority Government next time - one ht eon hadn, great, less law made is for the better. On the other hand, bad, hard decisions kicked into the long-grass ad infinitum. Frustrating.

8 comments:

MyCriticalName said...

1 - dont post when youve had a drink - what does "....Government next time - one ht eon hadn, great, less law made is for the better...." mean?

I can post drunk, I'm from the internet. You cannot.

2 - "A good example of this today is business rates - a system currently designed to keep high streets empty or full of charity shops."

We've had this discussion here before: business rates are based on rents, rents are based on borrowings/valuations.

This is actually a good example of an 'intelligent tax'. Its telling you that rents and consequentially land and property valuations are far too high.
We need more of this asset based taxation and less of the income based taxation to rebalance the economy.

To this end, I was heartened to hear Daniel Hannan tonight on C4 news rail against the CAP subsidy for landowners. A good man.

We need to tax property and land to get out of this morass - but who will have the balls to do it?

Electro-Kevin said...

It's still 3 party politics.

It's the political class which refuses to accept that their chums in the Westminster Dinnner-Debating Club (the LibDems) have been rejected by the people.

The country is still a socialist state with communist redistributive tendencies. It requires a lot of tax. Who else to get the money from but small, immobile businesses, property and sitting duck PAYE earners.

Anonymous said...

I remember a comment attributed to Ken Livingstone in his anti-business mayoral days, when describing a symbol of capitalism, Shell Centre on the South Bank.

"Lots of lovely rates!"

It's how all politicians think, alas.

Bill Quango MP said...

Just so you know - looked over a property last week.
Wrong end of high street - the non-flow end. next to a chip shop, which is no use for daytime footfall.
500sq ft, which in retail is very small.

Rent £16,000
Rates £6,000


now the £6,000 rates are equal to a part/time worker on 18 hours a week.

That may not seem a big deal, but
{as I have said many many times before} for a school aged children mum, or a pensioner, or a student, or someone only with 12 hours work already who wants more .. Its a job.

And that's almost a guarantee that that is what the money would be used for if rate relief was in place. Evidenced here at BQI, where our 100% rural rate relief properties employ on average 5 part time compared to our urban 100% rateable value that employ 4.

That is despite the urban being far busier.

Timbo614 said...

Because our shop is so small and we only have one premise, I have paid no rates at all for the last 4 years I think it's 50% discount for small premise, 50% discount courtesy of HMG :)

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JeremyOlm said...

I'm going to agree that I hardly could make head or tail out of the article after that bit of typo at the end. But just to chip in my 2 cents worth. As an estate agent, the taxes are really going to affect a lot more people than the government really wants it to, but it's really up to somebody to say something about it before it gets out of hand.