Hammond reveals small business rates relief

[caption id="attachment_875275" align="alignright" width="200"] Photo by James Shaw/REX/Shutterstock[/caption] Philip Hammond has set out how he intends to soften the blow of the 2017 business rates revaluation for small businesses. The chancellor has pledged to introduce “smoother and more frequent revaluations”, but is not releasing any details today. “We will set out our preferred approach in due course,” he said. In the short term, three new measures will be introduced to help small businesses. Any business coming out of small business rates relief will benefit from an additional cap. No business losing small business rates relief will see their business rates bill increase next year by more than £50 per month. And the subsequent increases will be capped at either the transitional relief cap or the £50 per month, whichever is higher. The Treasury will provide a £1,000 discount on business rates bills in 2017 for all pubs with a rateable value of less than £100,000 − 90% of all pubs in England. A £300m fund for local authorities will be launched to deliver discretionary relief to target individual cases. The fund will be allocated by a formula. Communities secretary Sajid Javid will set out details in due course. ■ Click here for the latest announcements, news and analysis from the 2017 Spring Budget