Budget 2024: reduced business rates for hospitality

 The Chancellor has reduced the level of business rate discounts for the retail, hospitality and leisure (RHL) businesses from 2026, while small business scheme is extended

The plan is to introduce permanently lower business rates multipliers for high street retail, hospitality and leisure properties (RHL) from 2026-27. To make sure this tax cut is fiscally sustainable, the government intends to fund it through a higher multiplier for the most valuable properties.

Caroline Fleet, head of real estate at Crowe said: ‘Business rates still remains unfit for purposes – the Chancellor has today announced extended reliefs for retail and hospitality businesses (capped at £110k per business), but this does not alter the fundamentals and the wider reform needed.

‘For residential transactions which are subject to additional dwellings surcharge, there is a 2% increase in the rate from tomorrow.  This means that the top rate of SDLT is now 19% and the gap from non-residential rates is now 14%.  Establishing the exact nature of the transaction has become even more important.’

In addition, the small business multiplier will be extended but at a much lower rate than the current 75%. The limited extension of the measure will cost the Treasury £1.9bn in support to small businesses and the high street from 2025-26, providing a 40% relief on bills for retail, hospitality and leisure properties valued up to a maximum of £110,000. The effective rate will therefore be 49.9p.

The move was criticised by the hospitality industry.

Kate Nicholls, chief executive of UKHospitality said: ‘This Budget is the latest blow for hospitality businesses. Rising taxes, increasing costs and fragile consumer confidence risk bringing growth to a grinding halt.

‘Avoiding the business rates cliff-edge next April was critical and it was important that some relief has been extended. However, the reduced level of 40% is another cost that businesses have to deal with. For those small- and medium-sized operators, their rates bills will still go up in April.’

Nicholls went on to say that the annual tax bill for the hospitality sector could rise to £3bn in 2025.

The 40% business relief will cost the Treasury an estimated £1.73bn in 2025-26 while freezing the small business multiplier will cost over £300m in five years.

Sabby Gill, CEO of Dext said: ‘Small businesses across the entire UK will benefit from broader, more equitable support measures, which is essential for creating a balanced, resilient economy nationwide.’

These business rate reliefs will not be available to private schools, which will also start having to charge VAT on their fees from 1 January 2025.

David Gage, head of VAT at Old Mill said: ‘The removal of business rates relief will likely pass on further costs to parents unless schools can make significant efficiency cuts. These combined pressures will favour elite institutions that are able to fully absorb or pass on these increases, while smaller private schools will struggle, having to make difficult decisions about how much of the extra costs they pass onto families.’

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