BUDGET 2016: The decision to switch the annual increase in business rates bills from RPI to CPI is a “token gesture”, according to Jim Ruthven, head of business rates at BNP Paribas Real Estate.
Commenting on the chancellor’s announcement in the Budget, he said: “In any case, the regulations provide government with the flexibility to make the annual change at less than the increase in inflation.”
However, Ruthven praised the chancellor’s increase in the annual threshold for small business tax relief from £6,000 to a maximum of £15,000, exempting 600,000 firms, as a “welcome and unexpected measure.”
He said the boost would be felt in rural and provincial areas in particular.
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