Fears for free cash machines at shops amid business rates ruling

FREE cash machines attached to corner shops could become a thing of the past if an imminent legal ruling upholds a government decision to slap a £400m business rates bill on ATMs.

Retailers have mounted legal action against the government’s decision in 2013 that a cash machine built into the front of a shop should have a separate extra rates bill.

This saw bills sent to thousands of retailers in 2014, backdated to the start of the last tax regime in April 2010.

This month’s controversial business rates changes have seen hefty bill hikes for more than 14,000 cash machines for the next five years.

This is costing retailers £39.3m – or nearly £2,800 a year – on average for each ATM, according to figures compiled for the Press Association.

The long-running case has now reached the Upper Tribunal and the Courts Service said a judgment was due “shortly”.

If successful, retailers could be given a reprieve on more than £400m worth of business rates bills, with a potential rebate of £200m for the last seven years and wiping out future charges of £205m for the next five years.

But if the ruling does not go in the sector’s favour, there are concerns that small shops and independent petrol forecourts may be forced to close ATMs or start charging for cash withdrawals.

The figures from rents and rates specialists CVS show the number of cash machines being liable for business rates has surged from 3,140 in 2010 to 14,068 this year.