This is how much beer pubs have to sell to combat nexy year’s rise in business rates
The country will have to drink heavily from 2017 onwards if pubs are to avoid a massive hit when business rates increase next April.
Business rates have been re-evaluated for the first time in seven years, and the new rate of tax will come in at the beginning of April next year.
Analysis from business rates specialists CVS shows that watering holes across England and Wales face a tax increase of £421m in the five years after the re-evaluation, meaning pubs will have to sell 121m extra pints to fund the rate hike.
Read more: London boroughs prepare for £9.5bn business rates hike
Mark Rigby, chief executive at CVS, said: "Pubs are set for a massive business rates shock from next April and leading pub operators have already spoken of the need to crank up prices by as much as 30p per pint.
"Such a drastic rise in business rates could leave pub operators squeezed and, in severe cases, at greater risk of closure and redevelopment.
"The worst affected pubs will see huge increases in their next bill."
Read more: Ritz boss: "MPs deciding business rates have never had a job"
London boroughs will be paying £9.53bn in extra tax over the five year period from 2017 due to the changes, and the City is braced for a £2bn business rate hike.
The changes have caused outrage among many business leaders, especially in London. The Ritz boss has lashed out at politicians over the changes, saying "most politicians have never had a job".
The re-evaluation will hit central London businesses particularly hard, because the tax increase is linked to property prices, which have soared in the capital over the last seven years.