Business rates revalued

From 30 September 2016, anyone in England and Wales that pays business rates go online to check their new draft rateable value. From this they can estimate what their business rates will be from April 2017.

It only takes a couple of minutes to click, find and review a rateable value. If a ratepayer thinks the information held about their property is incorrect, they can ask us to update our records. To do this visit the Gov.uk website at https://www.gov.uk/correct-your-business-rates.

All you need to do is enter your postcode or street address.

All 1.96 million non-domestic properties in England and Wales have recently been revalued. These new rateable values are based on the rental value of properties on 1 April 2015, and will be used to calculate business rate bills from 1 April 2017.

Please note that various business rates relief are still available, but they are handled differently in all the regions of the UK.

If you qualify for:

·         Small business rate relief

·         Rural rate relief

·         Charitable rate relief, or

·         Enterprise zone relief.

You will need to apply to your local council.

The exempted buildings and empty buildings relief is automatically applied by your local council and some councils give extra discounts. For example, you may be able to get hardship relief or transitional rate relief if your business meets certain criteria.

If your premises are affected by local disruption, you may get a temporary reduction in your business rates (e.g. flooding, building or road works).

Contact the Valuation Office Agency (or your local assessor in Scotland) to find out if you can claim.