Viewpoint: A boost for investment

As part of the series of measures to continue to provide support for businesses, the chancellor confirmed that 100% business rate relief will be extended for three months to the end of June, with a subsequent two-thirds discount applying until the end of the 2021/22 financial year, subject to a maximum cap of £105,000 for businesses that have remained open.

This was followed by the introduction of a “super deduction”, which means for the next two years when retailers invest in internal items such as solar panels or CCTV they can reduce their tax bill by 130% of the cost of that investment. This is fantastic news for our sector and an important signal about the direction of economic policy coming out of the pandemic.

Over the past year, retailers have had to make numerous changes to their stores to make sure they can feed their customers safely and effectively, including introducing social distancing measures and setting up home grocery delivery services – all of which have come at a cost. Recovery will be led by businesses investing, so we’re pleased the government has taken this positive step to incentivise retailers to invest in their stores.

When we look to the long term, eyes will turn toward the government’s long-promised fundamental rates review. Now the chancellor has introduced tax reliefs to incentivise investment, it will be difficult to row back from that principle when looking at longer-term measures. There is also still the big question of how the government deals with taxing online retailers.

If you have any questions on what the Budget means for you and your business, please get in touch with a member of the ACS team, who will be happy to provide you with more information.

James Lowman is chief executive at the ACS