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Non-Domestic Rates, or Business Rates, collected by local authorities are the way that those who occupy non-domestic property
contribute towards the cost of local services. Except in the City of London where special arrangements apply, the rates are
pooled by central government and redistributed to local authorities as part of the annual formula grant settlement. The money,
together with revenue from council tax payers, revenue support grant provided by the Government and certain other sums, is
used to pay for the services provided by your local authority and other local authorities in your area.
Rateable
Value
Apart from properties that are exempt from business rates, each non-domestic property has a rateable
value set by the Valuation Office Agency, an agency of the Inland Revenue which
draws up and maintains a
full list of all rateable values. The rateable value of your property is shown on the front of your bill and 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 2010, this date was set as 1 April 2008.
The Valuation Office Agency maintains the list
and may alter the value if they believe 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, are on the Valuation Office Agency's website or from
your local valuation office.
The effect of successful appeals are normally backdated to the beginning of the financial
year in which they are made, although there are exceptions to this.
National Non-Domestic Rating Multiplier
We work out your Business Rates bill by multiplying the rateable value of your property by the appropriate
multiplier.
There are two multipliers:
- the standard non-domestic rating multiplier; and
- the small business non-domestic rating multiplier.
The first one is higher to pay for small business rate relief. Except in the City of London where special arrangements apply, the Government sets the multipliers for each financial year for the whole of England according to formulae set by legislation. Between revaluations the multipliers change each year in line with inflation and to take account of the cost of small business rate relief. In the year of revaluation, the multipliers are re-based to account for overall changes in total rateable value and to make sure that the revaluation does not raise extra money for Government. The current multipliers are shown on the front of your bill.
For more information on business rates follow this links from this page or call our business rates team on 01782 238274.