From April onwards, 500,000 shopkeepers, cafe owners, pub landlords and other small business owners will be charged up to ten times more, taking a £600-a-year tax bill up to £3,000 and forcing many to close.
And it has also emerged that guesthouses in popular tourist spots such as East Sussex and Devon also face soaring bills, because of a tax raid on family-run businesses.
Owners say they will have no option but to pass on the cost to guests. Many small hotels, bed and breakfasts and self-catering cottages fear they will have to shut down if holidaying families respond to price rises by going abroad instead.
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Things to consider:
1. Does this offer an opportunity to firms who absorb the extra cost, to undercut their rivals?
2. If owners pass on the costs, what will determine how much of the costs are passed on?
3. Are holidaying families likely to go abroad, given that Brexit looms and with that a possible/probable fall in the exchange rate?
4. When did rates/taxes last go up - and is this for every business or do they have to be a certain size?
The article goes on to provide answers to some of these questions:
"For cafes, restaurants and shops, it’s based on the property size and location, and how much it would fetch if the whole building were let out.
In April, the Government is updating its estimated values for the first time in seven years."
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Therefore the article provides a starting point for discussion.
