Up to 50% Small Business Reduction
Small Business Rate Relief
This
relief came into effect on 1 April 2005.
Eligible businesses with rateable values of below £5,000 will
get 50% rate relief on their liability. This relief will
decrease on a sliding scale by an estimated 1% for every
£100 of rateable value over £5,000, up to £10,000. Your local
billing authority will calculate the exact decrease.
The relief is available to ratepayers with either:
- one property, or
- one main property and other additional properties, providing
the additional properties do not have individual rateable values
of more than £2,200, and the combined rateable value of all
the properties is under £15,000 (or £21,500 in London). The
threshold for the combined rateable value is dependent on the
location of the main property. The main property is the only
one that will have the relief applied to it. The additional
properties will have their charges calculated using the standard
multiplier.
In addition to this relief on liability, eligible businesses
with rateable values of between £10,000 and £14,999 (or between
£10,000 and £21,499 in London) will have their liability calculated
using the small business
multiplier.
The Small Business Rate Relief scheme is funded by a
supplement on the rate bill of those businesses
not eligible for the relief. This supplement is built
into the standard multiplier.
Eligible ratepayers must apply for the relief every five years
in line with the new Valuation List. If your business ceases to be
eligible on a day during the financial year, the relief will cease
on that day.
Assuming a business meets the eligibility criteria, the relief
can only be granted if the property the business occupies is on the
rating list from 1 April. The date of occupation of the
property is irrelevant, the key date is the effective date given to
the property in the rating list. If the property has an
effective date after 1 April, then the relief can only be applied
for from 1 April of the following year.This changes from 01 April
2009, the property does not have to be in the list on 01 April 2009
to qualify for that year.
The Government announced in the Budget (March) to extend the
increase in Small Business Rate Relief for a further 12 months up
to October 2012.
For more information contact a Local
Taxation Officer- 01748 829100
Print page