£13m tax case boost for ports firms

PORT businesses in the North West have had the threat of a £13.2m tax bill removed after it was waived by the Government.

Ministers have decided to cancel backdated business rates bills that would have hit 121 businesses in the region.

The threat dates back three years when an agency of HM Revenue and Customs decided that individual businesses based in ports were liable for business rates rather than the port operator.

Liverpool was the single biggest port affected in the country with 92 businesses facing bills totalling £11.5m.

David Pendleton, business development director for Mersey Maritime, said: “Mersey Maritime has been closely involved with this campaign from the very start, helping to bring together the Mersey Dock Rating group and working with other affected port based businesses around the UK. We are delighted to see our combined efforts come to fruition with the lifting of this grossly unfair financial burden.

“At least 70 firms and 3,000 jobs were estimated to be under threat on Merseyside and this in the midst of the worst recession in living memory. The Government’s determined effort in first freezing backdated payments and now removing them altogether means that these companies can finally concentrate on moving forward and creating jobs and wealth for the wider economy, which is vital at this time.”

Businesses that have already paid the bills, which were backdated to 2005, will be able to claim a rebate.

Nationally, the decision is thought to relate to around 700 businesses who collectively owed more than £66m.

Local Government Minister Bob Neill said: “For too long this unfair backdated port tax took its toll the port industry, with unexpected million pound bills damaging the businesses at the foundation of this country’s import and export infrastructure.

“The Government took swift action to reverse these effects – our freeze on paying the backdated tax helped prevent job losses and let companies plan for the future.  And from March 31, affected businesses in ports and across England, can at last breathe a sigh of relief as our action to waive their bills is completed.

“Now the looming threat of the unfair backdated port tax is finally behind us, I’m confident that the industry can move forward with putting that money to its rightful use – to build up their businesses, retain jobs and benefit from international trade.”