MP welcomes abolition of the “staircase tax”

18th December 2017
MP welcomes abolition of the “staircase tax”

Gordon Henderson MP, Member of Parliament for Sittingbourne and Sheppey, has welcomed the news that the so called “staircase tax” has been abolished.

Under the old business rate rules, companies that occupied more than one floor of the same building were given separate business rates assessment for each floor they were using instead of one bill for the whole building. The Chancellor announced the change in his Autumn Budget last week.

Gordon Henderson MP said, “I am pleased the Chancellor has listened to business owners and got rid of the staircase tax. Government should be doing all it can to help hard-pressed businesses grow and provide the jobs the economy needs. This was an unfair tax and it is right that it has been abolished and that businesses will have their original rates bills reinstated.”

Local businesswoman Giedre Brandao, managing director at AbBaltis Ltd, said, “The decision by the government to axe the Staircase tax is most welcome. As a growing business situated in Kent Science Park, AbBaltis took on additional space in a building designated for ambitious, high potential science based companies.

“This meant that if we wanted to employ more people and thus add additional space, some of our labs and offices would be separated by a communal corridor, and subject to the staircase tax. Indeed, the staircase tax was a big deterrent to business growth.

“It is great news that the most complicated and illogical rules and regulations get reviewed by government officials with common sense. This shows the government is listening and is determined to support entrepreneurship and SMEs in Great Britain.”