‘Deeply concerning’: UK Valuation Office Agency to be scrapped

The UK government has announced plans to scrap its Valuation Office Agency (VOA), its arm responsible for valuing properties for council tax and business rates. By April 2026, the division will instead be brought under the wing of its parent department HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC).

While in its current format, the VOA aids in the collection of over 60 billion pounds in council tax and business rates each, year, according to a press release, its restructuring intends to improve the experience of taxpayers and businesses by “cutting the time spent managing taxes and upgrading the customer experience during the transition to a reformed business rates system”.

This comes as part of the government’s Simplification, Administration and Reform tax update, which outlines 39 measures designed to simplify the tax and customs system. Among these are initiatives like “cutting red tape for small businesses by simplifying VAT administration”, with changes made to the VAT Capital Goods Scheme to allow businesses to reclaim VAT on capital items.

While to the government, this shift in formation is aimed at increasing efficiency, Dee Corsi, chair of retail lobbying group High Streets UK, called the changes “deeply concerning” at a time when businesses in the region are worrying about market uncertainty.

In a statement to FashionUnited, Corsi said: This will only lead to more uncertainty for businesses, which will have little time to acclimatise to new multipliers, a new ratings list and, now, a new administrative process. It is stability, not uncertainty that we need to drive growth and investment on our high streets.

“We continue to call for a freeze to any increase in multipliers until after the 2026 revaluation, and an exemption for all retail, leisure and hospitality businesses which play a vital economic role on high streets across the nation.”