SUPPORTING SMALL BUSINESSES WITH ACTION ON BUSINESS RATES AND MORE HELP FOR THE HIGH STREET. We will again extend the doubling of Small Business Rate Relief and continue to cap the inflation-linked increase in business rates at 2%. The £1,000 discount for shops and cafes on the high street will increase to £1,500 and there will be a full review of the structure of business rates to report before Budget 2016. We will increase the R&D tax credit for SME firms to 230%, the maximum allowed and extend the Funding for Lending scheme by another year – focusing it entirely on small businesses.