Pubs raising a glass to the Budget tax relief

Natalie Cook and Jose Nobrega at The Eagle raise a glass to pub business rates cuts

A revaluation of non-domestic business rates, charged on shops, offices, factories and warehouses, was carried out last year with the changes due to come into effect at the start of April.

Pubs across the county are set to receive a one-off £1,000 pub discount if they have a rateable value of less than £100,000 –as announced in the Chancellor’s first Budget, according to business rent and rates specialists CVS.

Across East Sussex, Rother has the largest percentage of pubs who under the new small business rates relief scheme will no longer pay rates (26 per cent), followed by Hastings where 15 per cent of all its pubs will no longer pay any rates tax.

More than 90 per cent of all pubs with a rates bill in Hastings, Lewes, Rother, and Wealden will qualify for the temporary one year Government support discount of £1,000.

Eastbourne, however, has the largest percentage of pubs with a rateable value of more than £100,000 which do not qualify for this discount.

In West Sussex, 527 pubs are set to receive the one-off discount. While 45 of the largest establishments will not receive the discount any business experiencing large hikes in business rates can apply to the £300m five-year hardship fund, something also available for those receiving a discount.

The 73 smallest pubs with a rateable value under £12,000 will not pay any business rates at all over the next five years. The pub sector has been affected by the revaluation seeing property assessments rise overall by more than 14 per cent.

Mark Rigby, chief executive of CVS, who met with ministers ahead of the Budget to press for financial help for pubs, said, “Rating for pubs is notoriously complex. We specifically asked for discounts to rates bills for small pubs who have seen their numbers fall by more than 11,000 across England during the current tax regime and have been adversely affected under the tax revaluation.

“That demand was met and the Chancellor should be congratulated on listening to the concerns of landlords of small pubs but acting upon those concerns with meaningful financial help. Businesses should always make sure that they are paying fair and accurate rates liabilities, and if not, then they should seek to challenge this.”