THE Liberal Democrats have published plans to cut taxes for businesses by five per cent in York.

York Liberal Democrat Economic Development Spokesperson Cllr Keith Aspden has described the plans as “exactly the sort of national policy we need to boost local investment and ensure businesses in York thrive”.

The report – Taxing Land, Not Investment – calls for the abolition of business rates and its replacement with a tax on land values, the Commercial Landowner Levy (CLL). The levy would remove buildings and machinery from calculations and tax only the land value of commercial sites, boosting investment and cutting taxes for businesses.

Liberal Democrat members will debate and vote on the proposals at the party’s Autumn Conference in Brighton this month.

Cllr Aspden said: “Time and again I have heard concerns about the impact of business rates on high streets and the wider local economy. Liberal Democrats demand better. That is why we are campaigning nationally and locally to create the environment needed for local businesses to continue to grow and create even more jobs in York."

York-born Liberal Democrat leader Vince Cable MP added:

“Business rates were a badly designed policy to begin with and have become an unacceptable drag on our economy. They are a tax on productive investment at a time of chronically weak productivity growth, and a burden on high streets struggling to adapt to the rise of online retail."