New Business Rates Valuations Available To View

[anonuk]

Following today's Autumn Statement, you can now see what your rateable value is going to be from 2023 here: https://www.tax.service.gov.uk/business-rates-find/search

Mine is increasing from £13,500 to £19,000

 

[Ecommerce&MailOrderGuy]

Great post Anonuk.
Just checked ours.....raising by 31% in April 2023

I only found this information after reading comments around today's budget saying that an Online Sales Tax was not now being proceeded with but that 'distribution sheds' would be hammered instead.

Not sure if my ecommerce business has been picked up in this new target but an increase in rateable value from £37500 to £48250. Given that the 'multiplier' or whatever is usually around 51% this is an extra £5k per year to find. On top of the extra 10% rent the landlord demanded (pleased I hammered him down from the 33% they asked for).
I need to look more into this....we are not 'online only' as we also have a large shop.

cut and pasted from The Independent
The Treasury highlighted that its revaluation of the retail sector as a whole will see its business rates burden fall, but large distribution warehouses will record an average increase of 27%.

Online-only retailers will be particularly impacted by this change. Initial analysis of revaluation data from Altus Group showed that Amazon’s Tilbury warehouse will surge by almost 75% to £12.34 million from £7.08 million.

Robert Hayton, the UK president of real estate adviser Altus Group, praised the autumn statement as a “budget for the embattled high street” that has listened to and acted upon the concerns voiced by retailers.

He said: “This is a budget for the embattled high street where rents have been in decline for a number of years.

“Next April will now level up regions and sectors which have fared badly whilst protecting those against exceptionally large increases in tax liabilities.

“The next part of the puzzle could come as early next week with the publication of new draft rateable values and then businesses will know exactly their rates bills for next year.”

Total business rates paid by the retail sector is estimated to fall by a fifth, the Government said.

 

[Ecommerce&MailOrderGuy]

guardian article
I can't ever remember being hit by such a rise before?
Guess I've had it easy being an ecommerce operator for the last 17 years but this new 'tax' will shock many.
Nice to see Amazon getting a kicking mind.....let's see them squirm out of this tax - not easy to hide their HUGE sheds?
So pleased we didn't move to a new warehouse recently this increase would be crippling.

 

[SillyBill]

Just looked at mine. Rateable value up to £97,500 meaning my bill is going up £13k a year. Add that onto another £30k in Corp Tax a year. And an additional £170k increase in electricity costs next year. Wage rises are going to be on the order of about £1800/employee FTE just to match the min. wage rise. So all in all running my SME I am £250k worse off next year before day 1. Not to mention the personal tax increases I will be incurring. I think this is suicidal politics by the Tories as I can't be alone at staring at bewildering increases as we're heading into the teeth of a mega recession, bonkers.

 

[Ecommerce&MailOrderGuy]

I am a bit shocked by it all.
Just came in from walking the dog thinking about it.
There's going to be a complete 're-modelling' of the commercial landscape isn't there?

My business is fortunate - banked many years of successful profits during the good times and we're in a strong position. Don't mean to come across as a moaning minnie but.....in just the last 4 weeks:

- Rent up 10% (landlord wanted +33%)
- Business Rates up 31%
- Minimum wage up 10%.
- Sterling vs dollar down from 1.37 average last year to 1.18 (weakest in my trading life)
- Online advertising costs +30%
- National Insurance, lost track to be honest.
- Dividend tax credit cut from £2k to £1k (oh for the days of £30k, we were very lucky back then)
- Dividend tax increased by 1.5%
- Corporation tax increased by 30% (19% to 25%)

Absolute bonkers.
My attitude next year is to steal market share....undercutting our 'discount' competitors to oblivion.
If we end up making £0-£50k profit rather than the usual much larger sum so be it.

The only winners will be USA Corps - Google/Amazon/Facebook and Ebay during the 'fight to the death' occurring in retail markets next year.

As someone said today there is ZERO incentive provided by the govt to invest in UK PLC. Many companies will simply 'hibernate' for the next 18-24m. What is this going to do to do to tax receipts.

Doom loop doesn't cover it.

 

[SillyBill]

I am a bit shocked by it all.
Just came in from walking the dog thinking about it.
There's going to be a complete 're-modelling' of the commercial landscape isn't there?

My business is fortunate - banked many years of successful profits during the good times and we're in a strong position. Don't mean to come across as a moaning minnie but.....in just the last 4 weeks:

- Rent up 10% (landlord wanted +33%)
- Business Rates up 31%
- Minimum wage up 10%.
- Sterling vs dollar down from 1.37 average last year to 1.18 (weakest in my trading life)
- Online advertising costs +30%
- National Insurance, lost track to be honest.
- Dividend tax credit cut from £2k to £1k (oh for the days of £30k, we were very lucky back then)
- Dividend tax increased by 1.5%
- Corporation tax increased by 30% (19% to 25%)

Absolute bonkers.
My attitude next year is to steal market share....undercutting our 'discount' competitors to oblivion.
If we end up making £0-£50k profit rather than the usual much larger sum so be it.

The only winners will be USA Corps - Google/Amazon/Facebook and Ebay during the 'fight to the death' occurring in retail markets next year.

As someone said today there is ZERO incentive provided by the govt to invest in UK PLC. Many companies will simply 'hibernate' for the next 18-24m. What is this going to do to do to tax receipts.

Doom loop doesn't cover it.

To be honest the thing I am most looking forward to over the coming couple of the years is the bewildered look on the mandarins/treasury officials/UK govs faces when these tax rises produce no additional revenue whatsoever, in some cases perhaps a reversal. I have my ear close enough to the ground in my own business and knowing dozens of other MDs that these policies are a disaster and that is before implementation, investment and productivity will collapse. Businesses will go into self-preservation mode.

And like yourself I am thinking a good outcome for us is that one of our two principal competitors going bust, one is pretty weak and must be on terrible margins given the prices charged. Not a good place to be. That'd set us up nicely for another decade with just two of us then dividing the market between us.

No way are a lot of businesses surviving this onslaught. Watch credit control next year like a hawk.

And I am not shocked. Look how many people have been/will be dragged into the 40% tax bracket since the Tories took office. It has been going on for years, they have consistently raised taxes despite talking as if they haven't. Today's statement is merely a continuation of the trend of government taking more and more of the pie. Sooner it goes belly up, the sooner we can get some proper people in to sort the mess out.

 

[Talay]

Thanks for that, very useful

 

[Talay]

...And like yourself I am thinking a good outcome for us is that one of our two principal competitors going bust, one is pretty weak and must be on terrible margins given the prices charged. Not a good place to be. That'd set us up nicely for another decade with just two of us then dividing the market between us.

No way are a lot of businesses surviving this onslaught. Watch credit control next year like a hawk......

I'm in total agreement with you on this.

We have trimmed a little at the edges, closed down a few marginal but historically defensive retail outlets (to stop competitors coming near our reasonably exclusive markets) and cut overstaffing everywhere.

For all of that, which would normally have seen us move forward, we have not quite held ground but we have slipped far less than we would have.

A few competitors have given up but others we are certain are at the point of having no option but to continue as that is their least worst scenario. Once lease breaks come up or machinery gives up the ghost then it is all over for quite a few I wager.

 

[Ecommerce&MailOrderGuy]

Bit of an update on the new Business Rates situation.
Any increase is going to be capped.
For us this means our bill will only be going up 15% rather than the 31% I feared.

so for us with our units with RV going from £36k to £48k
23/24 15% increase
24/25 25% increase
26/27 31% increase

Transitional Relief will cap bill increases to a set percentage each year before other reliefs and supplements:
Upwards Caps 2023/24 2024/25 2025/26
Small (RV up to £20k or £28k in London) 5% 10% 25%
Medium (RV between £20k to £100k) 15% 25% 40%
Large (RV greater than £100k) 30% 40% 55%

These caps are year on year increases. All caps are before other reliefs, supplements and, in years 2 and 3, inflation. Actual bill changes may vary.

 

[Ecommerce&MailOrderGuy]

Update:
I double-checked the local Amazon site and it is going up from approx £3m to £4m RV.
A 27% increase which will kick in 01/04/23 due to the size of the building.

I'm quite chuffed the govt has found a way to tax this behemoth.
But as an Amazon reseller I fear they'll be looking to take their pound of flesh from us.