Small Business Rate Relief
In order to limit the amount of rates small businesses have to pay from 1 April 2005 the government has introduced Small Business Rates Relief.
Businesses with a rateable value of less than £5000 will be entitled to claim 50% rate relief on their bill. If the business has a rateable value of between £5000 and £9999, the relief will decrease on a sliding scale of 1% for every £100 above £5000.
Small Business Rate Relief will be funded by a supplement to the business rate bill of those businesses not eligible for the relief. This supplement is built into the standard non-domestic rating multiplier. For the financial year 2008/09, the standard non-domestic rating multiplier is 46.2p per pound of rateable value.
Businesses that have a rateable value of between £10000 and £14999 may be eligible to pay their business rates without this supplement included. The business rates will be calculated using the small business non-domestic rating multiplier rather than the standard non-domestic rating multiplier. This is called the ‘buffer zone’. For the financial year 2008/09, the small business non-domestic rating multiplier is 45.8p per pound of rateable value.
Eligibility criteria
In order to qualify for relief, a business must satisfy the following conditions:
- The ratepayer must only occupy one business property in England; or
- The ratepayer must occupy one main property in England and other additional business properties providing that those additional properties have rateable values of less than £2200. The combined total rateable value of all the properties occupied will be used to assess eligibility for the relief. Any relief awarded will be against the rate bill for the main property only. Any additional properties will not qualify for the relief. If the combined total is more than £14999, there will be no entitlement to relief.
- The rateable value of the property must be under £15000 on 1 April of the year for which the application is made.
- If the business is entitled to charitable relief or mandatory Rural Rate Relief, it will not be entitled to Small Business Rate Relief.
- The relief will be calculated on a daily basis. If the business no longer meets the criteria for receiving the relief, the relief will stop on the day that the circumstances change. Some examples of a change in circumstances are as follows:
- The rateable value of the property increases to more than £14999.
- The business occupies additional property in England.
- The ratepayer vacates the property.
This list is not exhaustive. You should notify the Council of any change in circumstances.
How to claim
Applications for Small Business Rate Relief must be made using the Council’s application form. These are available from the Council’s Offices.
The relief is not automatically awarded – you must apply for it in respect of each financial year. You can apply for Small Business Rate Relief up to six months before the start of a new financial year and for up to six months after the financial year has ended.
An application for Small Business Rate Relief made after 1st April 2007 will apply until 30th March 2010 provided the entitlement still exists. It is the responsibility of the charge payer to advise the authority of any changes that may affect the entitlement to the relief. Failure to advise within 4 weeks may lead to a loss of entitlement.
A business which becomes eligible for the relief (due to its rateable value reducing to less than £15000 as at 1 April) will be able to submit an application for up to six months from the notification of the reduction in rateable value being issued.
If you want to find out more about the rateable value of your business you can contact the Valuation Office Agency at:
5th Floor, Holland House
Oxford Road
Bournemouth
Dorset
BH8 8EF
Phone: 01202 702000
Fax: 01202 702059
Website: www.voa.gov.uk
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