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According to reports from BBC News the Chancellor, George Osborne, is expected to reveal an overhaul of business rates to help high street retailers compete with internet retailers in his autumn statement.
The 400 year-old taxation system has long been under criticism from businesses and it has often been blamed for the decline of high street retailers.
Last month the British Retail Consortium (BRC) submitted a letter to the Chancellor seeking a statement of intent that the government plans to go beyond the steps it has already put in place to make the system fairer.
Earlier this year independent family jeweller F Hinds, joined more than 100 of Britain’s largest companies which signed an open letter calling for business rates to be overhauled. Other signatories included Tesco, Marks & Spencer and General Motors.
The letter said that business rates “are no longer fit for purpose in the 21st Century” and must be revamped in order to “unleash investment.”
The Autumn Statement will begin today (December 3) at 12:30pm, and will be Osborne’s last before the general election next year.
