SHOPS, leisure and hospitality businesses will receive 50 per cent relief on rates next year as part of an additional £116m package for businesses in the sectors most directly affected by the Covid-19 pandemic, Rebecca Evans MS, Minister for Finance and Local Government has announced today.

Retail, leisure and hospitality ratepayers in Wales will receive 50 per cent non-domestic rates relief for the duration of 2022-23.

Like the scheme announced by the UK Government, the Welsh Government’s Retail, Leisure and Hospitality Rates Relief scheme will be capped at £110,000 per business across Wales.

The Minister said: “To ensure businesses in Wales are sufficiently supported, and reflecting the nature of our tax base, we have invested an additional £20 million on top of the consequential funding received from the UK Government.

“This is in addition to our permanent relief schemes that provide over £240m of relief every year.

“This extended retail, leisure and hospitality relief scheme, in combination with our existing permanent relief schemes, will ensure that over 85,000 properties in Wales are supported in paying their rates bills in 2022-23.

“Overall, since the outbreak of the pandemic, the Welsh Government has provided extensive additional support to businesses through the non-domestic rates system.

“Through our reliefs and grant schemes, we have provided over £2.2bn of support to businesses and other ratepayers throughout Wales to help them manage their way through difficult circumstances.”

The Welsh Government also announced a freeze of the non-domestic rates multiplier in Wales for 2022-23 to “ensure, prior to applying any reliefs, that there will be no increase in the amount of rates which businesses and other ratepayers pay next year.”

“We remain committed to supporting businesses to recover from the impacts of the pandemic and to thrive moving forward,” the minister added.