Pubs would be forced to close or pull 1.3billion more pints if Rachel Reeves’ “impossible” tax raid comes into effect, the industry has warned. The British Beer and Pub Association (BBPA) said struggling pubs would have to cough up £150million more annually over the next three years under the Chancellor’s business rates.
This would mean pulling 1.3billion more pints a year collectively just to make a profit, the BMMA warned, which was “clearly impossible”, meaning they would have to shut or push up prices even further. The boss of Wetherspoon, Sir Tim Martin, has already warned that pubs lose half their beer sales to supermarkets because of “perverse” taxes that make pints expensive.
Emma McClarkin, of the BBPA, said: “The number of pints the sector would have to pull to cover the extra business rates bills is mind-boggling and frankly not going to happen.
“This shows why many are facing the very real, bleak prospect that they just won’t be able to survive the new bills that will hit their doormats come April,” reports The Telegraph.
From April, the pandemic tax relief for hospitality venues will end, replaced by a discount planned by the Chancellor. At the Budget, Reeves promised that it would deliver “the lowest tax rates since 1991”. However, under the changes, business rate bills were set to surge by an average of 78% over the next three years.
Following significant pressure from the industry, and more than 1,000 pubs banning Labour MPs from their premises, the Government is expected to announce a change to business rates for pubs in the coming days.
Sir Mel Stride, the shadow chancellor, has called for “urgent” commitment from Reeves to extend the business rates relief to other industries across the high street.
A letter on Friday said: “It should not have taken a concerted campaign from pubs and Conservative MPs for the Government to come to its senses on the damage this policy will do.”
A No 10 spokesman said on Friday: “We hugely value the role pubs play in our communities. We want to protect them.
“People in businesses across the country would rightly expect the Government to engage and listen closely where there are impacts – that is the right and sensible approach, and it is what we are doing.”