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One proposal first outlined during the Makerfield by-election and campaign and repeated in his interview with LBC last week was a 50% increase in the threshold for 100% Small Business Rates Relief in England.
This policy could lift more than 140,000 additional small premises out of paying business rates and reduce liabilities by around £880m a year, according to global tax firm Ryan.
The proposal would increase the threshold for 100% Small Business Rates Relief from a rateable value of £12,000 to £18,000 while extending the upper threshold for taper relief from £15,000 to £21,000.
Great policy objective
Ryan practice leader for Europe and Asia-Pacific property tax Alex Probyn said: “Supporting small businesses is a great policy objective.
“The concern is how that is funded if things have to be revenue neutral. Larger commercial properties are already contributing more through the existing business rates surtax to fund lower liabilities for retail, hospitality and leisure.
“The obvious question is whether they are now going to be asked to contribute even more.”
Burnham argued “online giants” should contribute more through higher taxation of large warehouses to support small businesses and Britain’s high streets.
Taxes too high
During last week’s LBC interview, he repeated that approach, stating there was a case for higher business rates on warehouses and major developments on the outskirts of towns and cities to fund lower business rates for pubs and lift certain small businesses out of the threshold altogether.
Business rates reforms introduced in April this year included a 2.8p business rates surtax on properties with rateable values of over £500,000 in England.
Probyn added: “The attraction of increasing the existing surtax is obvious. It provides an established mechanism for funding additional reliefs elsewhere in the system.
“The risk is higher property taxes increase the cost of occupying and investing in many of the sectors that underpin investment, jobs and economic growth.
“The primary issue remains property taxes are now too high.”
