Rateable value

Apart from properties that are exempt from Business Rates, each non-domestic property has a rateable value which is normally set by the valuation officers of the Valuation Office Agency (VOA), an Agency of the Inland Revenue. It draws up and maintains a full list of all rateable values, which are available on their website at www.voa.gov.uk. The rateable value of your property will be shown on the front of the bill. The rateable value broadly represents the yearly rent the property could have been let for on the open market on a particular date. For the revaluation that came into effect on 1 April 2005, this date was set as 1 April 2003.

The valuation officer has to maintain the list and may alter the value if he or she believes that the circumstances of the property have changed. The ratepayer (and certain others who have an interest in the property) can also appeal against the value shown in the list if they believe it is wrong. Further information on the grounds for making an appeal, and on how to make one, can be found on the VOA website or from your local valuation office.

The effect of successful appeals against values shown in the rating list that came into force on 1 April 2005 will normally be backdated to the beginning of the financial year in which they are made, although there are exceptions to this. Further information about these arrangements may be obtained by clicking here.

National Non-Domestic Rate multiplier

The local council works out the Business Rates bill by multiplying the rateable value of the property by the multiplier or ‘poundage’ which the Government sets from 1 April each year for the whole of England. The Government normally changes the multiplier every year to move in line with inflation. By law, the multiplier cannot go up by more than the rate of inflation, except in the year of a revaluation when it is set at a level which will keep the total amount raised in rates after the revaluation the same as before, plus inflation for that year. The current multiplier will be shown on the front of your bill.