Tax take from business rates to overtake council tax and fuel duty The income from the tax will then increase another 11pc to £29.6bn by 2015 to 2016, when it will also be larger than council tax and become the Treasury's fifth biggest source of income behind only income tax, National Insurance, VAT, and corporation tax. The Telegraph is calling for the Chancellor, George Osborne, to announce a two-year freeze to business rates in next month's Autumn Statement, which would ease the pressure on businesses and allow the time for the tax to be reformed. However, businesses believe the tax has grown out of sync with Britain's fragile economy because the tax is based on property values before the collapse of Lehman Brothers and the annual inflation increase does not take into account a company's financial performance. The British Chambers of Commerce has already called for Mr Osborne to freeze business rates in the Autumn Statement, and the Federation of Small Businesses says the tax must be addressed as a "priority." The FSB said it wants a temporary doubling of small business rates relief to be made permanent. In a warning to the Chancellor, it said: "More than a quarter of a million firms rely on 100pc rate relief to survive, but relief at this rate is due to expire next year. The impact of this would be equivalent to introducing a new tax on 293,000 small and micro businesses just as the economy is starting to recover. The FSB also said that businesses with more than one property should be treated differently to those with only one, while the appeals process for business rates must be reformed.