Directors News - Government to hike business taxes on local firms

Director's News
LiaiseOnline Limited
1 Clewer Hill Road
Windsor
Berkshire
SL4 4BU
Tel: 01753 852904
Email
View map

Government to hike business taxes on local firms

Government to hike business taxes on local firms at time of recession – Average business rates bill in Reading may hit almost £21.5k thanks to Gordon Brown

23rd January 2009

Labour Ministers in Whitehall were this week accused of kicking local firms “in the teeth” as it emerged that the Government is pushing ahead with plans to increase business rates on local firms at a time of economic recession.

The Government is introducing a new law - the Business Rates Supplements Bill - which will allow town halls to increase business rates on local firms by levying a ‘supplementary’ rate on top of current bills. This comes at a time that business rates are already due to rise by a painful 5 per cent in April.

· There are 4,742 premises in greater Reading which currently pay business rates. The average bill in Reading in 2008-09 was £19,380, raising a total of £91.9 million a year in tax in total from local firms, which is handed over to Whitehall.

· Due to the impending 5 per cent rise, business rate bills in Reading will hit an average of £20,349 from April. If a supplementary business rate were imposed on top, this could push the average bill on local firms to a record £21,224 a year.

· Supplementary business rates are likely to be used to fund local authorities’ current expenditure, rather than new infrastructure. Councils will be pressured into levying supplementary business rates to make up for funding pressures. Firms will not be given a proper vote on whether or not they support the new charge. According to the Government, supplementary business rates could increase taxes by up to £600 million a year if levied by every local authority.

· There will also be a business rates revaluation in 2010, which may increase the bills even more for many firms – especially shops, since retail property rents have risen sharply in recent years. Higher rateable values will worsen the impact of supplementary rates.

Reading East MP, Rob Wilson said, “It is important that businesses in my constituency are aware of this duplicity by the Government. Gordon Brown is doing nothing to help businesses in a time of recession and is wrecking the country. Not content with wasting billions of taxpayers money, he wants more to squander. The time has come to say ‘enough is enough’, he should be supporting British businesses not crippling them with tax rises.”

Alok Sharma, Parliamentary Candidate for Reading West added, “I fear that supplementary business rates will be yet another backdoor way for Gordon Brown to hike taxes by stealth. At a time when local firms are struggling for their very survival, even higher business rates are a kick in the teeth from the Labour Government.”

In this section:
	Seminar for Senior Executives and Managers
	Business Plans taking on more importance in tough times
	Big bang in the legal profession “Tesco Law”
	Ticking boxes and wasting valuable resources
	Some PC World staff are *ankers
	Government funding a sales person for businesses
	The green shoots of recovery
	High quality writing skills in short supply
	Occupational heat stress in the workplace
	SpinVox launches 12 countries with Telefonica
	BAcking Britain initiative
	Sage Partners with LinkedIn
	More taxes, less services, thank you Europe
	Business led focus needed by SEEDA
	Government to hike business taxes on local firms
	Businesses for sale in Berkshire
	Share your staff with Staffshare
	Christmas clearance sale starts 6pm today!
	Sustainability Masterclass - Sustainable Futures Group
	Yell let their people do the walking
	Small Business Survival Package
	Government help small businesses
	Business & Enterprise Committee want YOUR comments
	Business planning – How companies achieve business plans
	People in business – a hindrance or help?
	The Queen’s Award for Enterprise
	Health and Safety at Work
	No such thing as a free lunch
	UK’s leading pension and employee benefits service
	Businesses need 21st Century transport
	UK firms at risk from IT security
	Offer bilingual employees incentives
	Reading MP rubs shoulders with Microsoft giant
	Telcoms Regulator under pressure
	New Year Resolutions
	Working on Christmas Eve
	TNT sets the bar for environmental performance
	Businesses to be 'blown away' with system
	BT invests in British sailing
	Solution 'matches company desires'
	New security device announced
	Are Small Firms Making the Most of the Internet?
	Postal Strike Impacts Small Businesses
	Entrepreneurs Prefer ‘University of Life’
	The Entrepreneur Challenge
	Mobile giant sees more subscribers
	Self-Employed Percentage Drops
	Security acquisition may boost firms
	Heavy investment made into Berkshire firm

Jon Davey is a Social Media Director based in Windsor, Berkshire UK.

These short videos aim to both educate those interested on how to boost their social media profile, both online and offline, while at the same time helping Jon's own profile by being indexed rapidly by the search engines and YouTube.

Social Media is made up of two words ... social & ... you've got it media ! This means that it is not just about online marketing, offline is key as well. Your goal should perhaps be to recognised online by your industry and locally offline.

Please review one or two of the videos below, score them on You Tube and add your comments ... it all helps ... they are in reverse order of popularity when last checked inorder to help the lesser clicked!!

Thank you and enjoy ...

Connect to journalists