Business Rates
Contents
Small business rate relief
Rural rate relief
Enterprise Zones
Exempted buildings relief
Hardship relief
Transitional relief
Rateable value if your bill is increasing
Rateable value if your bill is decreasing
Retail discount
Contacts
Overview
Business rates relief is a discount for certain eligible properties in England. The discount is decided by the local authority. There are different rules in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.
Transitional relief and exempted buildings and empty buildings relief is automatically applied by the local authority. For a different type of relief you will need to contact your local authority to see if you are eligible.
Small business rate relief
To apply for small business rate relief you will need to apply to your local authority.
If your business property's rateable value is less than £15,000.00 and your business only uses one property (you may be eligible if you use more) you will be eligible for small business rate relief. You will be entitled to the following:
If your property has a rateable value of less than £12,000.00 you will not pay business rates
If your property has a rateable value of between £12,001.00 and £15,000.00 the relief rate will go down gradually from 100% to 0%
If you obtain a second property, you will continue to get any existing relief on your main property for twelve months. You will continue to be entitled to relief on your main property if the following applies:
None of your other properties have a rateable value of more than £2,899.00
The total rateable value of all your properties is no more than £20,000.00 (£28,000.00 in London)
Help for small businesses that are not eligible for small business rate relief
If your property is in England and has a rateable value below £51,000, the local authority will calculate your bill using the small business multiplier, which is lower than the standard one. This will still be the case even if you do not get small business rate relief.
The small business multiplier is 49.1p and the standard multiplier is 50.4p from 1 April 2019 to 31 March 2020.
N.B The multipliers may be different in the city of London.
Rural rate relief
If your business is situated in a rural area which has a population of less than 3,000 you could be eligible for rural rate relief. If your business is in an eligible area you will not have to pay business rates providing that one of the following apply:
You are the only shop or post office with a rateable value of up to £8,500.00
You are the only public house or petrol station with a rateable value of up to £12,500.00
Contact your local authority for further details and to make an application if you are eligible.
Charitable rate relief
You can apply for a charitable rate relief of up to 80% if you are a charity or community amateur sports club and the property is used for charitable purposes. You might also be able to apply for discretionary relief giving you 100% charitable rate relief. You will need to contact your local authority to apply.
If you are not eligible but you are a non-profit or voluntary organisation you should still contact your local authority as you may be eligible for discretionary relief.
Enterprise Zones
You may be eligible to receive up to £55.000.00 a year over a period of five years, if you are starting up or relocating to an enterprise zone.
Visit: https://enterprisezones.communities.gov.uk/ to find your enterprise zone and to see whether it offers business rates relief, and information on how and when to apply.
Exempted buildings relief
There are certain properties that are automatically exempt from business rates, but there are strict legal requirements for these exemptions.
You may not have to pay business rates for the following types of properties:
Agricultural land and buildings, this includes fish farms
Buildings that are used for training and welfare of disabled people
Buildings that are registered for public religious worship or church halls
If you think your property should be exempt and you are located in England, you will need to contact the Valuation Office Agency. In Wales there are different ways to report exemptions.
Empty buildings
The rules are that you don't pay business rates on properties that are empty for up to three months, after which time most businesses have to pay the full rate. An extension to empty property relief may be given to the following properties:
Industrial premises, such as warehouses, are exempt for a further three months
Listed buildings, until they are reoccupied again
Buildings that have a rateable value under £2,900.00 and until they’re reoccupied again
Properties which are owned by charities and only if the property’s next use will be mostly for charitable purposes
Community amateur sports clubs buildings and only if the next use will be mostly as a sports club
You should inform the local authority when your property becomes vacant.
Hardship relief
To apply for hardship relief you would need to contact your local authority and they must be satisfied that:
Without the hardship relief you will be in financial difficulty; and
It will be in the interests of the local people to give you hardship relief
Transitional relief
If your business property is in England and the rates go up or down by a certain amount you may be eligible for transitional relief. The purpose of the relief is to put a limit on how much your bill can change each year as a result of revaluation. If you are eligible the local authority will adjust your bill automatically.
Both your property’s rateable value and whether your bill is increasing or decreasing as a result of revaluation are factors that determine how much your bill can change from one year to the next. Once your bill reaches the full amount set by revaluation, you will stop getting transitional relief.
The business rates year is from 1 April to 31 March the following year.
Rateable value if your bill is increasing
2017 to 2018
Up to £20,000 (£28,000 in London) = 5%
20,001 (28,001 in London) to £99,999 = 12%
Over £100,000 = 42%
2018 to 2019
Up to £20,000 (£28,000 in London) = 7.5%
20,001 (28,001 in London) to £99,999 = 17.5%
Over £100,000 = 32%
2019 to 2020
Up to £20,000 (£28,000 in London) = 10%
20,001 (28,001 in London) to £99,999 = 20%
Over £100,000 = 49%
2020 to 2021
Up to £20,000 (£28,000 in London) = 15%
20,001 (28,001 in London) to £99,999 = 25%
Over £100,000 = 16%
2021 to 2022
Up to £20,000 (£28,000 in London) = 15%
20,001 (28,001 in London) to £99,999 = 26%
Over £100,000 = 6%
Rateable value if your bill is decreasing
2017 to 2018
Up to £20,000 (£28,000 in London) = 20%
20,001 (28,001 in London) to £99,999 = 10%
Over £100,000 = 4.1%
2018 to 2019
Up to £20,000 (£28,000 in London) = 30%
20,001 (28,001 in London) to £99,999 = 15%
Over £100,000 = 4.6%
2019 to 2020
Up to £20,000 (£28,000 in London) = 35%
20,001 (28,001 in London) to £99,999 = 20%
Over £100,000 = 5.9%
2020 to 2021
Up to £20,000 (£28,000 in London) = 55%
20,001 (28,001 in London) to £99,999 = 25%
Over £100,000 = 5.8%
2021 to 2022
Up to £20,000 (£28,000 in London) = 55%
20,001 (28,001 in London) to £99,999 = 25%
Over £100,000 = 4.8%
If you have received a transitional value certificate, the transitional certificate value will be used in the business rates calculation, rather than the usual rateable value. If you disagree with the certificate value you should speak to the Valuation Office Agency.
Retail discount
The eligibility criteria to qualify for a retail discount for your business is as follows:
Your business is a cafe, restaurant, shop, bar or pub
You business is located in England
Your business has a rateable value of less than £51,000.00
You apply for a retail relief discount at your local authority and if eligible they will apply up to a third off your business rates bill. In addition you will be able to apply and receive a retail discount on top of any other business rate relief that you are entitled to.
N.B. The retail discount is available for 2019 to 2020 and 2020 to 2021 tax years.
Contacts
Valuation Office Agency
T (England): 03000 501 501
T (Wales): 03000 505 505
Gov.uk
(to locate your local authority)