Closed petition An urgent review of the Business Rates system

Closed on 23 April 2013

The current Business Rates system is seriously harming small businesses. This petition seeks to force a proper review of the Rates system, to bring it into line with modern business realities.

Unlike other Business Rates e-petitions, this one is not suggesting a specific action, it is merely suggesting that a proper, independent review is critical if we want to promote small business & innovation.

For clarity, the 3 main issues with the current system are:

1. It is generally based on building size and/or turnover. In the modern business world, neither of these parameters have much bearing on the ability to pay (I.E. profit).

2. It is incredibly unfair, with a vast disparity across different business sectors.

3. It works on 5-yearly reviews, in a world where businesses can see their markets changing almost daily.