Business Rates - Other Reliefs
Charitable & Discretionary Reliefs
Charities and Registered Community Amateur Sports Clubs are entitled to 80% relief where the property is occupied by the Charity or Club and is wholly or mainly used for charitable purposes or as a Registered Community Amateur Sports Club. The Borough Council has discretion to give further relief on the remaining bill. Full details can be obtained from Revenue Services.
The Borough Council has discretion to give relief to Non-Profit Making Organisations. Full details can be obtained from Revenue Services.
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 of less than £2,200.
The rateable value of the property mentioned in (a), or the aggregate rateable value of all properties mentioned in (b), must be under £15,000 outside London or £21,500 within London, including on 1st April each year.
Ratepayers who satisfy these conditions will have the bill for their single or main property calculated using the lower small business non-domestic rating multiplier rather than the ordinary non-domestic rating multiplier that is used to calculate the liability of other businesses.
In addition, if the single or main property is shown on the rating list with a rateable value of up to £10,000, 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 £5,000.
If an application for relief is granted, provided the ratepayer's circumstances do not change, the application will not need to be renewed until the next revaluation of non-domestic premises, which happens every five years. Certain changes in circumstances will need to be notified to the local authority by the ratepayer (other changes will be picked up by the local authority). 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 the change happened. If this happens, there will be no interruption to the ratepayer's entitlement to the relief. However, failure to notify the authority within this timeframe will mean the ratepayer ceases to be entitled to the relief with effect from the day that the change happened. If they are still eligible, the ratepayer will be entitled to the relief again with effect from the day that they notify the local authority. 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 on how to apply for this relief are available from Revenue Services.
Rate Relief for Businesses in Rural Areas
Certain types of properties in a rural settlement with a population below 3,000 - the only general store, post office or food shop and with a rateable value of less than £7,000 or the only public house or petrol station and with a rateable value of less than £10,500 - may be entitled to relief. The property has to be occupied and an eligible ratepayer is entitled to relief at 50% of the full charge whilst the Borough Council also has discretion to give further relief on the remaining bill. In addition, the local authority can give relief on certain other occupied property in a rural settlement where the rateable value is less than £14,000. Full details can be obtained from Revenue Services.
Partly Occupied 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 Borough Council has discretion to award relief in respect of the unoccupied part. Full details can be obtained from Revenue Services.
Hardship Relief
The Borough Council has discretion to give relief in special circumstances. Full details can be obtained from Revenue Services.
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