One in seven business premises in the UK have received a court request due to falling behind business rate payments.
The data was released after the Grimsey Review - an "alternative review" into the high street, led by former Focus DIY and Iceland chief executive Bill Grimsey - made freedom of information requests to 90 councils across England.
Of those who had to appear in court, an estimated 131,574 had to face collection from the bailiffs, which marks a 18 per cent rise from last year. This is no surprise considering that business rates cost retailers across the country over £7 billion a year.
The West Midlands were worst hit, with a quarter of all cases coming from the region. The north-west of England followed with 20 per cent.
Paul Turner-Mitchell, a retail expert who is also part of the review, said: “Year after year we’re seeing big rates rises. We’ve had two recessions and virtually no growth in the last five years. Yet the government’s medicine to support businesses has been a £2 billion rise in business rates in the last two years. This does not make sense. We need to be supported, not seen as just a cash cow."
Mr Turner-Mitchell added that while the government is focusing on freezing council tax for families, the taxes continue to stack up for small businesses.
Business rates are calculated by the rateable value of the commercial property, being multiplied by the rate calculator which considers the annual rate of inflation. These values are supposed to be re-evaluated every five years, but businesses are complaining that the current rates are based on peaks seen in 2008, and a re-evaluation, which was supposed to occur this year, has now been delayed by the government until 2015.