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Business rates

Introduction

Business Rates (or Non-Domestic Rates) are the means by which businesses and other occupiers of non-domestic property make a direct contribution towards the cost of local services. The rates are collected on a local basis by the Council and then paid into the Non-Domestic Rating Pool held by Central Government. Monies are then redistributed to Councils by way of a prescribed formula.

Apart from properties which are exempt from Business Rates, each business property has a rateable value, which is set by the Valuation Officers of the Valuation Office Agency (VOA) and this is used to calculate the rates payable. The VOA is a part of HM Revenue & Customs and is responsible for drawing up and maintaining a full list of business properties in the Council's area.

The rateable value is the valuation officer's assessment of what your property would fetch in rent if it was available on the open market on a particular date and based on certain assumptions, including the state of repair. For the revaluation that came into effect on 1 April 2010, this date was set as 1 April 2008. The rateable value may be different from the rent you pay for a number of reasons, for example, your own rent was agreed at a different time. 

If you disagree with the rateable value you may appeal to the Valuation Officer at the Valuation Office Agency: Business rates|.

Business Rates - check your rateable value

The Council uses the rateable value provided by the Valuation Office Agency (VOA) to work out your business rates bill. Your rateable value (RV) will be shown on your bill. You can check your RV and compare it with others on the VOA website: . You can also get in touch if you need to let them know of any issues. 

The business rate is set annually by the Government in the form of a poundage (The Non-Domestic Rating Multiplier) which for 2010/11 has been set at 41.4 pence per pound rateable value (0.414) and 40.7 pence per pound rateable value for qualifying small businesses (0.407) (The Small Business Non-Domestic Rating Multiplier).

The proposed multipliers for 2011/12 are 43.3 pence (Non-Domestic Rating Multiplier) and 42.6 pence (Small Business Non-Domestic Rating Multiplier).

When the poundage is multiplied by the rateable value, this produces the annual rate bill for a property.

Reliefs and Exemptions are available in certain circumstances to reduce the amount payable.

For further details please refer to Business rates: Frequently asked questions (FAQ’s).

Further information regarding the valuation process, starting a business, running a business from home, reliefs available etc, can be found at Business Link: Business rates|.

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