Chancellor Philip Hammond is considering giving a £1.4 billion tax cut to almost 250,000 small retailers on the high street.
According to The Sun, treasury officials are said to be in discussions over raising the £12,000 threshold where firms start paying business rates, which is based on the rent value of their property.
Firms with properties worth between £12,000 and £15,000 currently pay a tapered rate of between 1-99 per cent in England.
Now the treasury is said to be looking at raising the small business rate relief (SBRR) threshold up to £20,000.
The new threshold would mean an extra 234,226 businesses would be beneath the starting level for paying business rates.
It’s thought the rate would especially help small and medium-sized retailers, whose average rateable value is £19,520.
Although it would cost the treasury an estimated £1.4 billion in lost revenue, with business rates set to rise by £720 million in April, retail trading bodies and campaigners are arguing that drastic measures are required to save further retail jobs and stores from closures.
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