Following George Osborne’s announcement of devolved trade rates,local authorities will compete to attract enterprise to their area, says Simon Walker
Ask a small trade what bothers them most on a daily basis, and it won’t be long before they raise the dreaded spectre of trade rates. For many small businesses,it’s of more concern than corporation tax (a tax on companies’ profits the rate of which depends on the amount of profit). Almost everybody agrees the current system is sub-optimal.
The problem is that reforming rates is challenging. So, set against that context, and with the genuine detail to come,the chancellor’s announcement yesterday that local authorities will be given the power to sustain the £26m of trade rate revenues to spend on government services (at the moment, local authorities sustain 50% of revenues and 50% has to move back to central government), or to lower rates,was welcome. Continue reading...
Source: theguardian.com