BUSINESS RATE RELIEF
UNOCCUPIED PROPERTY RATING
Business rates will not be payable in the first three months that a property is empty. This is extended to six months in the case of certain industrial properties. After this period rates are payable in full unless the unoccupied property rate has been reduced by the Government by order. In most cases the unoccupied property rate is zero for properties owned by charities and community amateur sports clubs. In addition, there are a number of exemptions from the unoccupied property rate.
For the Tax year 2010/11 properties with a rateable value of less than £18000 will be exempt from empty rates if they remain unoccupied.
In addition, there are a number of exemptions from the unoccupied property rate. Full details on exemptions can be obtained from the local authority. If the unoccupied property rate for the financial year has been reduced by order, it will be shown on your bill.
PARTLY OCCUPIES PROPERTY RELIEF
A ratepayer is liable for the full non-domestic rate whether a property is wholly occupied or only partly occupied. Where a property is partly occupied for a short time, the local authority has discretion in certain cases to award relief in respect of the unoccupied part. Full details can be obtained from the local authority.
Charity and Community Amateur Sports Club (CASC) Relief
Charities and registered CASCs are entitled to 80% relief where the property is occupied by the charity or the CASC, and is wholly or mainly used for the charitable purposes of the charity, or for the purposes of the CASC. The local authority has discretion to give further relief on the remaining bill.
The local authority has discretion to give relief to non-profit making organisations. Full details can be obtained from the local authority.
Rate Relief for businesses in rural areas
Certain types of properties in a rural settlement with a population below 3,000 may be entitled to relief. The property must be the only general store, the only post office or a food shop and have a rateable value of less than £8,500 or the only public house or the only petrol station and have a rateable value of less than £12,500. The property has to be occupied. An eligible ratepayer is entitled to relief at 50% the full charge whilst the local authority also has discretion to give further relief on the remaining bill.
In addition, the local authority has the discretion to remit all or part of the rate bill other occupied property in a rural settlement where the rateable value in less that £16,500 and the authority is satisfied that the property is used for a purpose that benefits the community.
Revaluation 2010 and Transitional Arrangements
All rateable values are reassessed every five years at a general revaluation. The current rating list is based on the 2010 revaluation. Five-yearly revaluations make sure each ratepayer pays their fair contribution and no more, by ensuring that the share of the national rates bill paid by any one ratepayer reflects changes over time in the value of their property relative to others. Revaluation does not raise extra money for Government.
Whilst the 2010 revaluation will not increase the amount of rates collected nationally, within this overall picture, over a million properties will see their business rate liabilities reduced and some ratepayers will see increases.
For those that would otherwise see significant increases in their rates liability, the Government has put in place a £2 billion transitional relief scheme to limit and phase in changes in rate bills as a result of the 2010 revaluation. To help pay for the limits on increases in bills, there also have to be limits on reductions in bills. Under the transition scheme, limits continue to apply to yearly increases and decreases until the full amount is due (rateable value times the appropriate multiplier). The scheme applies only to the bill based on a property at the time of the revaluation. If there are any changes to the property after 1st April 2010, transitional arrangements will not normally apply to the part of a bill that relates to any increase in rateable value due to those changes. Changes to your bill as a result of other reasons (such as because of changes to the amount of small business rate relief) are not covered by the transitional arrangements.The transitional arrangements are applied automatically and are shown on the front of this bill. Further information about transitional arrangements and other reliefs may be obtained from Horsham District Council or the website www.mybusinessrates.gov.uk
More information on revaluation 2010 can be found at www.voa.gov.uk
Small Business Rate Relief
This relief is only available to ratepayers who apply to their local authority and who occupy either—
(a) one property, or
(b) one main property and other additional properties providing those
additional properties each have a rateable value which does not
exceed £2,599.
The rateable value of the property mentioned in (a), or the aggregate rateable value of all the properties mentioned in (b), must not exceed £17,999 outside London, on each day for which relief is being sought. If the rateable value, or aggregate rateable value, increases above those levels, relief will cease from the day of the increase.
Ratepayers who satisfy these conditions will have the bill for their sole or main property calculated using the lower small business non-domestic rating multiplier rather than the national non-domestic rating multiplier that is used to calculate the liability of other businesses.
In addition, if the sole or main property is shown on the rating list with a rateable value which does not exceed £12,000, the ratepayer will receive a percentage reduction in their rates bill for this property of up to a maximum of 50% for a property with a rateable value of not more than £6,000. If an application for relief is granted, provided the ratepayer continues to satisfy the conditions for relief which apply at the relevant time as regards the property and the ratepayer, they will not need to re-apply for relief in each new valuation period.
Certain changes in circumstances will need to be notified to the local authority by the ratepayer. The changes which must be notified are— (a) the ratepayer taking up occupation of a property they did not occupy at the time of making their application for relief, and (b) an increase in the rateable value of a property occupied by the ratepayer in an area other than the area of the local authority which granted the relief. Notification of these changes must be given to the local authority within 4 weeks of the day after the day on which the change happened. A notification that the ratepayer has taken up occupation of an additional property must be by way of a fresh application for relief; notice of an increase in rateable value must be given in writing. Full details on the eligibility criteria and how to apply for this relief are available from the local authority.