Retailers, airports and power stations have topped the list for having the biggest business rates bill in the UK this year, new research reveals.
The 50 largest rate paying sites in England and Wales will hand over £705m in 2019, up 0.4 per cent on a year ago, despite the actual tax rate rising 2.4 per cent in line with inflation, according to data collated by business rates specialists Altus Group.
Topping the list is London's Heathrow airport, with a rates bill of £117.96m - although this was down from £122.15m a year earlier, meaning the £4m cut was the biggest reduction by value of any business premise in the country.
Other sites around Heathrow that made the top 50 list also include British Airways' Terminal 5 building, BA's world cargo terminal and the airline's engineering base with bills of £13.8m, £22.4m and £13.1m.
Manchester (£13.9m), Gatwick (£30.4m) and Stansted (£12.1m) airports also feature in the list.
Business rates are paid by all commercial premises, raising the Treasury around £40bn a year.
But in recent years businesses - particularly high street retailers - have been calling on the Government to overhaul the system, saying it benefits online operations who typically pay lower rates bills due to not having stores in towns and cities.
The latest figures could add pressure on ministers to act, particularly following a year of bloodbaths on the high street that has seen Debenhams, LK Bennett, HMV and House of Fraser - among others - all going bust in the last 12 months.
Several restaurant chains have also gone under or been forced into cutting rents through CVAs, including Jamie's Italian, Prezzo, Giraffe and Byron Burgers, with most blaming high business rate bills for contributing to their woes.
Selfridges' London department store tops the list of retailers with the highest rates bill, hitting £17.4m this year, followed by Harrods, which will pay £17m.
John Lewis's Oxford Street store in London also makes the top 50, with a rates bill of £10.4m.
Online giant Amazon also sneaks into the list for its London head office, which has a rates bill of £7.2m for its 15 storey, 600,000 sq ft offices.
Elsewhere, huge factories and power stations enter the list, including EDF's Sizewell B Power Station, Sellafield and Drax Power Station.
Former nuclear energy site Sellafield is the most expensive power station, with a bill of £26.6m - although this was down on the £27.6m paid a year earlier.
The Government could also miss out on £11.9m due in rates from British Steel for its site in Scunthorpe, Lincs. Last month the business went bust and is now under the control of the Government's insolvency service, with ministers keen to find a buyer.
