82p in every pound is going to the taxman

To put that into perspective, the average UK business across all sectors pays 50p in the pound. The banking sector – those poor, struggling souls – pays just 40.5p.

So while the city bankers handing out multi-million-pound bonuses pay less than half their profits in tax, independent operators like me are putting in 80-hour weeks to feed their communities and are handing four-fifths of their hard-earned cash straight over to the Treasury. How is that fair?

Between 20% VAT, crushing business rates, rising employer National Insurance, and local authority levies, it feels like hospitality isn’t just being taxed, it’s being actively punished for existing. The sector has lost over 90,000 jobs in the last two years alone, and anyone looking at these numbers can see why.

With the Autumn Budget coming up on October 28th, trade bodies like UKHospitality are rightly screaming from the rooftops for relief. But if you’re relying on the Chancellor to swoop in and fix your P&L before the end of the month, you may be in for a costly disappointment.

Instead, I’m taking emergency tax-efficiency measures into my own hands. This is what I’ll be doing:

• Auditing my Business Rates value: Local councils routinely overvalue hospitality properties based on outdated trading data. Use the government’s Check, Challenge, Appeal (CCA) process or hire a reputable rating surveyor to challenge your rateable value. If your valuation drops, you get a lower monthly bill and a backdated refund.

• Tightening up my Tronc setup: If you’re still distributing card tips through general payroll without a compliant, independent Tronc scheme, you’re burning cash. Properly structured Troncs are exempt from employer and employee National Insurance contributions, saving both you and your team thousands a year legally.

• Claiming every scrap of R&D / Capital Allowance: Modernising your kitchen with energy-efficient induction suites, upgrading digital POS systems, or redeveloping layout space often qualifies for capital allowances or energy efficiency write-offs. Stop treating refurbishments as pure capital losses.

The fact that our industry is subsidising the rest of the UK economy at an 82% effective tax rate is an absolute disgrace.

But until politicians realise that dead high streets don’t pay taxes, running a tight, hyper-efficient tax strategy is the only way our venues will survive to see 2027.

This content is contributed by a guest author. Startups.co.uk / MVF does not endorse or take responsibility for any views, advice, analysis or claims made within this post.