Retailers face new "poll tax" over business rates revaluation Simon Danczuk, the Labour MP for Rochdale who organised the debate, said: "If next year's business rates revaluation was to go ahead as planned, new rates would come into force in April 2015, a month away from the General Election. Ann Coffey, co-chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Retail Group, said the postponing of the revaluation is "the retail equivalent of the poll tax" and will accelerate the demise of the high street. Mr Danczuk questioned whether the Valuation Office is "fit for purpose" and said it faces 241,700 outstanding appeals over business rates. Brandon Lewis, the Minister for Local Government, said the Government wants to halt the revaluation so local firms and shops can avoid "unexpected hikes" in business rates. However, he accepted that 300,000 properties will see their rates bill rise because of the move. Retailers did at least receive a boost yesterday with CBI data suggesting sales in October have risen ahead of expectations on the back of demand for clothing and furniture. According to the CBI, 30pc more retailers said sales in October increased compared to last year rather than fallen. The 30pc balance was ahead of the expected 15pc and is the fastest rate of sales growth since June. The survey was conducted during the first two-and-a-half-weeks of October, and does not include actual sales data.