Commercial property tax relief ‘will aid smaller businesses’

Posted 11/12/2009

The government’s decision to extend the empty property tax relief for lower-tier commercial property will benefit smaller companies, according to an expert.

Retail and leisure data firm the Local Data Company has stated that Alistair Darling’s decision to continue the tax exemption for properties with a rateable value below £18,000 will be a boon to start-firms.

According to the chancellor’s calculations, this means that around 70 per cent of all empty commercial properties in the UK will be exempt from the tax.

Matthew Hopkinson, business development director for the data expert, predicted that entrepreneurial companies looking to “try something else” will also benefit from the extension of the scheme, which will now run until 2010-11.

However, he warned that many firms will still be facing the risk of insolvency over the course of the coming months despite the upcoming festive period.

Mr Hopkinson suggested that companies may not experience “the Christmas trading that they expected to have, or that they were hoping to be saved by”.