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BT has warned that changes to business rates are expected next month Budget This could cause infrastructure companies to lose an additional £400 million each year and put investment at “slowdown risk”.
Telecom giant and openness The owner is the latest UK business to warn it could be hit by proposed changes to commercial property taxes, which are expected to come into force next year.
Supermarket retailers, airports and office firms have already urged Government Hold off on potentially increasing your tax payments from next year.
BT Group currently pays approximately £375 million in business rates each year for its Openreach broadband network, as well as additional rates for its offices and shops.
It has warned that its infrastructure operations will face overpayments over proposed changes to rates.
chancellor Rachel Reeves previously announced that premises with a property value of more than £500,000 will face a higher tax band, up to 10p on the pound compared to the current multiplier.
The final rate is expected to be confirmed in next month’s budget.
The government said the higher rate would be used to finance a permanent reduction in rates for small retail, hospitality and leisure firms.
Ms Reeves said she aimed to “level the playing field” between high street shops and large warehouse-run online retailers, but BT said the plans would have “serious unintended consequences for the country and the services that keep the economy running”.
The warning comes as the Chancellor continues to call for investment in infrastructure to boost economic growth.
BT Group chief financial officer Simon Lowth said the business’s UK investment plans were “not complete yet” and still planned to invest billions by the end of the decade.
But he said: “The proposed changes to UK business rates risk slowing down infrastructure investment at a time when the country needs it most.
“The financial impact on companies like BT is currently unknown and will depend on the outcome of ongoing discussions with the Valuation Office Agency (VOA) and decisions taken in the next Budget on 26 November.
“But it is clear that any increase in this tax on infrastructure could threaten investment in broad areas of infrastructure.”
He said the company’s research shows that the change to business rates could reduce business investment by £1.4 billion over five years and permanently shrink the UK economy by £1.5 billion a year.