1st August 2022
Around 170,000 businesses in England, across all sectors of the economy, sought to argue over the past year that the heavy impact of the pandemic on their operations means that their rateable value, which the property tax is based on, should be reduced. The Government initially allowed more than 55,000 of these businesses to proceed to make a formal challenge with the Valuation Office Agency, an executive agency of HM Customs & Revenue. This would have allowed firms to negotiate “in good faith” on potential reductions, amid an acceptance that working from home and social distancing measures were bona fide grounds to claim a rebate.
Real estate experts have estimated that these rebates could have been worth around £3.5 billion to UK businesses. But as these negotiations were nearing a conclusion in March last year, the Government announced that it would retrospectively legislate to try and stop these reductions.
The Chancellor Rishi Sunak said at the time it “could have led to significant amounts of taxpayer support” for businesses adversely affected, arguing that Covid-19 and the response to it was not an appropriate use of “material change in circumstances” tax rules.
Source: https://www.itv.com/news/2022-05-15/tribunal-showdown-over-estimated-35bn-pandemic-business-rates-rebates