Susanne Thomas, rating surveyor at JLL's Cardiff office, said: "The yield from business rates in Wales is likely to be fairly constant and therefore we anticipate that the
Uniform Business Rate (UBR) multiplier will increase slightly.
He pressed ahead with plans to abolish the
uniform business rate and allow local authorities to keep all of the revenue from future increases in business rates in their areas.
"Under the Community Empowerment Act published in July 2015, councils were given the right to reduce the
Uniform Business Rate (UBR) for the current financial year," he said.
The system under which cash raised from rates is sent to Whitehall to be redistributed in grants to town halls around the country is to be abolished, along with the
uniform business rate which imposes a single tax rate on every council.
e 2015
uniform business rate would have been 54.5p, with RPI increases taking it beyond the unchartered 60p barrier by year ve of the valuation cycle.
"However, whilst this demonstration of measures from Government is, on the whole, a positive step forward, we are disappointed that he did not freeze the
Uniform Business Rate as this would have helped give our members a more stable footing going into 2013.
The
Uniform Business Rate is normally linked to the previous September's RPI in order to ensure that Government receipts from business rates remain constant in real terms.
The starting point for calculating the fee is to multiply the rateable value of the property by a
uniform business rate set by Government.
This is then multiplied by a factor known as the
uniform business rate or poundage which is currently set in Wales at 42.1p.
While large companies may have welcomed the
uniform business rate, because it was predictable, small businesses have often complained, for a number of reasons.
Iain McMillan, director, CBI Scotland: "Will you please confirm that Labour will retain the
Uniform Business Rate and will not extend its scope to allow Scotland's councils to raise additional funds?"