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Chancellor Rishi Sunak has been asked to cut business rates.

A new study released today by political communications consultancy WPI Strategy, after being commissioned by retailers such as Co-op, Morrisons and Waterstones, warns that many more stores will close without an urgent cut in overall tariffs.

Nearly 9,000 stores closed across the country in the first half of 2021, with 190,000 jobs lost between March 2020 and April 2021.

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The study found that 17 percent of retail units in Yorkshire & Humber are empty, compared to just 10 percent in London, and that is where the burden of business tariffs – the amount of tariffs paid relative to total profit – is the highest level.

Mr. Hollinrake, Chair of the House Research Group of MEPs, said: “There is an urgent need to take action to support our stores, our shopping streets and our communities in order to improve the playing field between online and physical retailers. A fair design of the tariff system for companies must have priority.

“At the same time, we have to think carefully about how to implement such a step. Given the state of public finances, any tax cut has to be paid elsewhere. “

Esther McVey, MP for Tatton and chair of the Blue Collar Conservatives Group, said, “A reduction in retail business tariffs would have a significant and positive impact on the areas of the country most in need of” leveling “. Lowering the “business tax” would free up investment, create jobs and allow the local economy to grow. “

Simon Fell, MP for Barrow and Furness, said, “We need to make it as easy as possible for companies to do business in places like Barrow. The current tariff regime hits areas with boarded-up shops and difficult main roads the hardest.

“We need to cut the cost of doing business and create the conditions for investment and jobs, especially in industries like retail, which employ so many locals and play such an important role in a place’s social infrastructure.”

Other Tory MPs calling for a cut include Ben Bradley for Mansfield, Lee Anderson for Ashfield and Dehenna Davison for Bishop Auckland.

The report warned: “Business tax revenues have gone from £ 8.8 billion in 1990 when they were introduced to £ 27.3 billion.

“That means that the multiplier has risen from 35 percent to over 50 percent in the last 20 years. In the last decade alone, some retailers have seen business rates up 80 percent – those numbers are unsustainable and worse, they discourage investment in the UK’s most deprived areas. “

Chris Walker, author of the report, said, “This analysis shows how a single policy change – lowering business rates – could bring massive benefits to communities across the country, especially those most in need of replenishment.

“Most of the other taxes are prosperous and progressive, but that system has collapsed with corporate taxes.”

Intervention by Northern Conservative MPs – some on the Red Wall seats – comes after Labour’s shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves said her party would eventually cut business rates if it came to power.

Labor’s corporate tax reform would seek to shift the burden off the high street to the online giants and end the tax breaks for private schools due to their not-for-profit status.

Ms. Reeves insisted that the whole system of corporate taxation is not “fair” or “fit for purpose”, adding, “How can it be when high street brick and mortar stores are taxed more heavily than online giants? High street businesses pay over a third of the business fees, despite only making up 15 percent of the overall economy.

“But when Amazon’s revenue grew nearly £ 2 billion last year, how much did taxes go up? Less than one percent. If you can afford to go into space, you can pay your taxes here on earth. “

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