RHM has undertaken an analysis of the Executive’s proposed Rates Levy on large retail properties and a copy of our research can be downloaded from the “Briefing Notes” section to the left.
The Headlines are:
> There are 73 properties with an NAV of £500,000 and above; 44% are supermarkets
> Only 38% are out of town
> The Levy would need to be 17.4 pence in the pound to raise £10 million per annum, a 32% rates increase for the affected properties
> Only 6 companies would carry 69% of the burden
> The Levy would, in effect, be a tax on job creation
In our view, the Levy would represent the wrong tax at the wrong time.
Instead, we believe the Executive should be using the Rates System as a carrot instead of a stick and our Briefing Note includes a few ideas on how it could be used to generate, not hinder, economic development.