Akoni, SMEs and the Staircase Tax

Many in the country are outraged by the changes that the VOA has made in regards to assessing staircases and how the business rates are calculated as a result of this assessment. It also affects Akoni in the sense that what we do is try and lighten the load on SMEs with our services.

We are all about providing a service to SMEs that gives a solution to one of the disadvantages they face when it comes to getting the best rates on their cash holdings. Large corporations have the chance to make more money on their cash holdings simply because the service is provided to them or they have the resources to invest in this sort of market research. Our platform gives SMEs that same opportunity and therefore levels the playing field.

When we then, hear about yet another obstacle placed in the way of Small businesses to grow their business, because taxes are increased, we cannot help to be frustrated by this.

The main change seems to be that each floor of a building will be assessed separately if the staircase connecting these floors is shared with others. If however, the staircase is private and only belongs to the business then all floors will be treated as one entity. Taxes then, are higher for those who share a staircase. The first thing that comes to mind is that companies that can afford a building with private staircases will have a relatively lower tax than companies who, due to their financial disadvantage, share the space.

We cannot understand why SMEs have to consistently be faced with such hardships in comparison with large corporations, when it is clear to everyone that Small businesses constitute the bedrock of our economy.