article_snippet: Retailers have long been pushing for reform of rates – which have existed in various forms since Tudor times – to ease the pressure on the high street.
article_snippet: Sources suggest that moving away from a charge based on the rateable value of a commercial property to a modern alternative – such as a sales tax – is one option.
article_snippet: Critics of the business rates system say that it is absurd in the internet age to base company taxes on the physical space company taxes occupy.
article_snippet: This technique is widely used by private equity firms.