Title - Tax and Occupancy of Business Properties: Theory and Evidence from UK Business Rates

Abstract - We study the impact of commercial property taxation on vacancy rates in the UK using regression kink and regression discontinuity designs. We exploit exogenous variations in commercial property tax rates from three different reliefs in the UK business rates system: small business rate relief (SBRR),retail relief and empty property relief. A simple theoretical framework predicts: (i) relationships between rateable values and taxes, and vacancies; (ii)that SBRR has a sorting effect on the mix of businesses in small properties. Findings consistent with the theory suggest that SBRR increases the likeli-hood that a property is occupied by a small business, reduces the likelihood that it is occupied by a large business, and reduces the overall likelihood of being vacant. We estimate that the retail relief reduces vacancies by 39%,and SBRR relief by up to 37%.