Stormont's Big Store Levy Faces Opposition

Large retailer levies are not the way forward, says the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, (RICS).

Amid claims that big name firms such as Asda and B&Q are being targeted as 'cash cows' by the Stormont Finance Minister, Sammy Wilson, RICS said that, whilst it welcomes the NI Executive's desire to support small businesses, it is not convinced that the best way to do this is by funding it with a supplementary levy on large retailers.

Giving evidence to the NI Assembly Finance & Personnel Committee on Wednesday they said the proposal to extend Small Business Rates Relief by introducing a supplementary levy on large retail premises would unfairly place an added burden on some retailers who are already paying over the odds in rates due to the postponement of a rating revaluation in 2010.

RICS, which has 3,000 members in Northern Ireland across the public, private and voluntary sectors, said that the relief to small firms as a result of the proposal would unlikely be sufficient to make the difference between a small firm surviving and failing.

It is instead a blunt instrument, which is unlikely to impact on viability or employment creation.

Commenting, RICS Northern Ireland spokesman Chris Kenton said: "We absolutely welcome the Executive's desire to support small businesses. However, we are not convinced that this proposal is the way to do it.

"Had the postponement of the 2010 non-domestic revaluation not taken place, it is our contention that some of the stores identified in the consultation document, particularly in Donegall Place, Belfast, could have reasonably expected a reduction in NAV, given the proximity of the Victoria Square development," Mr Kenton points out.

"Many of these stores have already been impacted by the decision to postpone the revaluation given that their NAV was maintained at existing levels. In effect these stores would be paying a supplement on a NAV that is already above levels they would be paying had the revaluation proceeded," he continued.

Speaking to the NI Assembly Finance and Personnel Committee, RICS says that rating revaluations need to take place on a regular basis in order to address anomalies and provide certainty in the rating system. It says that non-domestic revaluations should therefore commence as soon as is reasonably practicable.

The Northern Ireland Retail Consortium (NIRC) also attacked the plan to have larger firms pay a levy to fund rates relief for small companies and said that Mr Wilson wants to increase rates for commercial premises with a rateable value of more than £500,000.

Jane Bevis, from the NIRC branded Mr Wilson's scheme a "tax on jobs" and she said it would mean rates for bigger businesses in NI would be 16 times higher than elsewhere in the United Kingdom.

(BMcC/GK)