Pubs business rates rethink is 'welcome'

BUT WARNINGS CHANGES WILL NOT BE ENOUGH

- By STAFF REPORTER

THE government's rethink on business rates following an outcry about the impact on pubs must be followed by tax system reforms, an expert says.

The Treasury is understood to be preparing a support package for the pub industry, due to be announced in the coming days.

Professor Maggie Zeng, from the University of Leicester School of Business, said recognition by ministers that the withdrawal of Covid-era support and changes to business rates had put pressure on hospitality businesses was welcome.

But she said the tax system was still "fundamentally misaligned" because it taxes location rather than economic performance, "penalising low-margin, place-based businesses" such as pubs.