The pandemic forced the closure of high street businesses and required significant borrowing, increasing the national deficit.
The traditional business rate tax is based on property value. In the internet age many business now have no physical presence. Both small and large successful businesses do not pay business rates as they either require small premises / can be operated from a ‘bedroom’, have no physical property (such as drop shipping companies) or their premises / parent companies are based outside the UK.
Internet Business Rates would modernise the system and bring it up to date by charging these “virtual” business and percentage of their UK generated turnover.
This would have the added benefit of closing the some existing loop holes by “virtual” businesses use to avoid tax. At the same time it would put the business rate system on a stable footing for the 21st century as we expect physical high street shops to decrease still further.
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