Supermarkets win ATM business rates case against the government
09 November 2018
A legal ruling means supermarkets are no longer facing financial pressure to ditch 'hole in the wall' cash machines.
Retailers are in line for a £200m tax refund after winning a legal fight against the government over business rates for store cash machines.
Supermarkets including Tesco, Sainsbury's and the Co-op went to the Court of Appeal after a ruling last year upheld a decision in 2013 that ATMs built into the front of a shop or petrol station should have a separate business rates bill.
The government's Valuation Office Agency (VOA) was refused leave to appeal though it could petition the Supreme Court to hear such a case.
It marks a rare, valuable victory for business over business rates as retailers in England and Wales had been facing the prospect of a £44.5m "hole in the wall" bill this year alone, according to Altus, the real estate adviser.
