Late night levy will damage high street firms

Published: 12 April, 2012

A late-night levy to be imposed on the restaurant and bar sector will damage business and degrade the high street, says the Forum for Private Business.

In a letter to Lord Henley, who has been appointed to conduct a consultation into the proposals, the Forum described the levy as "little more than a stealth tax against business".

Chief executive at the Forum, Phil Orford, said: "It's a huge irony that last week Communities Minister Grant Shapps wholeheartedly embraced the contents of the Portas Review, and remarked on the need to make high streets central to communities across the country. Yet on the other hand we have a Government plan taking shape to introduce a new stealth tax which directly targets high street businesses. It's hardly joined-up thinking.

"The Forum believes imposing a levy is not the best way to deal with the issue of late night drinking either. Drinking culture is a complex issue, and won't be solved simply by crudely levying extra taxes on firms which is a sticking plaster approach at best.

"Frankly, extra taxes merely hurt the smallest businesses at a time when they should be growing and stimulating the private sector."

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