Businesses facing 'tax border' as Labour budget pushes Northern Ireland further away from Britain: industry leaders call for rates relief and system changes to be like England and Wales
Businesses are being “taxed to death”, an MLA has said, after industry leaders complained of a “rates border” created in the wake of Labour’s first budget.
Heads of the small business, retail and hospitality sectors pleaded with Stormont for help today, complaining that the current system is a “dead hand on the economy” forcing firms across the province to bring in job freezes and cancel expansion plans.
They also called for tax reliefs on empty premises to be overhauled, arguing the scheme as is currently “subsidising dereliction” on high streets.
Speaking to the Northern Ireland Assembly’s Economy Committee, Glyn Roberts from trade body Retail NI stated that businesses are “beyond crisis point” as a result of October’s budget, largely due to increases in minimum wage and National Insurance costs introduced by Chancellor Rachel Reeves.
That’s on top of the province’s small traders paying what he described as “the most expensive business rates in the UK by a country mile”.
Although Westminster handed out money to help with business tax bills, Mr Roberts complained that £58m given to Stormont for that purpose wasn’t passed on to traders.
He said: “We could have the worst of all scenarios, absorbing the National Insurance increases and no rates relief.
"I do not think it is unreasonable to argue for the same level of rates relief that small high street businesses receive in Brighton or Bolton to apply equally in Ballymena or Banbridge.
"The fundamental question is this, why should we accept Northern Ireland being treated so differently from other parts of the UK? “We’ve heard a lot of people talk about the Irish Sea Border - it’s very clear that there’s now a businesses rates border in the Irish Sea.”
Branding the current business tax system “broken, antiquated, expensive and simply not fit for purpose”, Mr Roberts added: “It is a dead hand on our economy, and on our high streets.
"We will never achieve the economic potential of this region while we have this system.”
Calling for the £58m to be released to independent traders and the hospitality and leisure sectors, he said: “It’s not an unreasonable request to make – give us what other parts of the UK have.
“If we get what’s on offer in England, that’s a good start.”
He also urged Stormont to set up an inquiry into the cost of doing business, stating that family-owned small outlets are “beyond breaking point” while businesses are “at their wit’s end” amid the “crippling cost” of taxes.
He went on to call for the rates system to be overhauled, particularly rates relief that cuts taxes in half for empty premises.
“That scheme is subsidising dereliction, where landlords find so many creative ways to get round paying rates,” he said.
Speaking after the meeting, committee chair Philip Brett MLA stated that businesses are “being taxed to death”, adding: “Mortgages are paid and food put on the table from the salaries of jobs that are under threat, whilst the cost of living crisis is exacerbated from driving up prices due to increased costs.”