Business rates: Reliefs and grants
Reliefs available to ratepayers on business rate bills in England

A Westminster Hall debate on ‘VAT on sunscreen products’ has been scheduled for Thursday 9 February 2023 at 3pm. The debate has been initiated by Amy Callaghan MP.
Debate on VAT on sunscreen products (181 KB , PDF)
European VAT law limits the discretion of Member State to set lower VAT rates on individual goods and services. With the UK having left the EU, EU VAT law no longer imposes limitations to VAT reforms in the UK.
In the 2020 Budget the then Chancellor Rishi Sunak announced with the UK’s exit the Government would introduce a new zero rate of VAT on women’s sanitary protection. This new zero rate came into force from 1 January 2021. Since then the Government has not made any substantial changes to the range of VAT reliefs, although the Treasury has received many requests for changes in the VAT treatment of various goods and services.
In her request to the Backbench Business Committee for a debate on VAT on sunscreen products, Amy Callaghan MP argued that there was “appetite across the House for reform of the VAT charged on sunscreen products, but even more fundamentally, there is a lack of awareness in our communities that sunscreen products are not VAT-exempt compared with other healthcare products.” The Member has launched a campaign for this change in the law.
Debate on VAT on sunscreen products (181 KB , PDF)
Reliefs available to ratepayers on business rate bills in England
A debate on the implementation of public registers of beneficial ownership in the UK’s Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies will take place on Thursday 7 December 2023, in the House of Commons Chamber. The debate has been scheduled by the Backbench Business Committee and will be led by Dame Margaret Hodge MP
This briefing discusses changes to the lifetime and annual allowances - which limit tax relief on pension savings.