Treasury reportedly plans business rates relief for 75,000 small firms
The Treasury reportedly plans to raise the business rates threshold from £12,000 to £18,000, lifting around 75,000 small businesses out of the tax, according to the Sunday Times.
The Full Story
A plain summary built from the channels that reported this story.
The Treasury is reportedly preparing to lift around 75,000 small businesses out of business rates by raising the threshold at which they start to pay. The plan, reported by the Sunday Times, would increase the threshold from £12,000 to £18,000.
The measure would cover thousands of high street shops, cafes, pubs and hairdressers. The reported estimate is that 39,000 shops, 2,600 pubs, 2,500 restaurants and 2,000 hairdressers would no longer pay the tax. The report was credited to the Sunday Times political editor Ben Riley-Smith.
The report said Andy Burnham would honour a promise made during the Makerfield by-election campaign to raise the threshold at which small companies start to pay business rates. It was also reported that the steer did not come directly from the Chancellor. A Treasury spokesman declined to comment. The leak was discussed as a possible sweetener, with the details yet to be confirmed by the government.
On screen
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Key Claims
Claims reported during this story's coverage, grouped by how many channels reported each one. Select a dot to see the source excerpt.
| Claim |  |
|---|---|
| Only on one channel | |
| Business rates threshold would rise from 12,000 to 18,000, lifting around 75,000 businesses out of paying rates, including an estimated 39,000 shops and 2,600 pubs. | |
Channel Perspectives
What each channel focused on, with key quotes.
Sky News treated the story as a newspaper leak and a likely political sweetener. It focused on the reported threshold rise and the number and types of small businesses that would benefit, while noting the Treasury would not comment.
- “thousands of high street shops, cafes and pubs and hairdressers will no longer have to pay business rates after tax changes”
- “it's going to be increased from 12,000, the threshold, to 18,000”
- “the Treasury spokesman declined to comment”
Broadcast Timeline
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