Free ATMs outside shops could become a thing of the past as a result of changes to the way they are taxed, a retailers’ trade body has warned.
In 2013, the Valuation Office Agency, which helps the government with the taxation of property, ruled that a cash machine that was built into the front of a shop should have a separate rates bill to the main business.
More than 10,000 ATMs are hit by the charge, which is based on how often the machine is used and how much is withdrawn, and does not apply to ATMs that stand within stores.
The agency also decided to backdate this charge to 2010, leaving some
shop owners facing one-off bills running into the tens of thousands of
pounds.
The Association of Convenience Stores (ACS) has written to the
government calling on it to remove the charge on free ATMs, claiming
they provide customers access to their money at a time when many last
banks in town are closing.
Its submission described ATMs as a “high street enabler providing shared benefits to a range of traders, allowing consumers to access their cash and spend it within their local communities”.
It added: “The benefits of removing ATMs from the rating list would be that more consumers are able to access their cash free of charge and spend it in local shops and high streets. We strongly believe that ATMs are beneficial to all businesses on high streets and as long as they are free to use, should be exempt from business rates.”
The ACS chief executive, James Lowman, said treating ATMs as a separate entity for business rates produced “exorbitant” bills for stores.
“Even within the current system, local authorities have powers to grant discretionary rate relief, and our guidance to local authorities written for the Future High Streets Forum says ATMs should get discretionary relief because they support all local businesses by making cash available.”
Mick McAteer of the Financial Inclusion Centre said this was a worrying development.
“Charges for ATM withdrawals disproportionately hurt financially excluded, lower income households. We fought hard to make sure people in all areas had decent access to free ATMs,” he said. “This would be a regressive step.”
In February, the Financial Times reported that big supermarkets were challenging councils for £200m worth of rates paid for their in-store ATMs.
