A new relief from non-domestic rates became available from 1/4/2005 that may reduce the amount of rates payable by a small business.
Relief is available to ratepayers who occupy:
- Only one business property in England with a rateable value below £15,000
- One main business property and other additional properties, providing all the additional properties have individual rateable values below £2,200 and the total of the rateable values of all the properties is under £15,000 - relief will apply to the main property only.
- The property is included in the Valuation List with effect from 1st April of the relevant year.
There are two elements to the relief - eligible businesses will qualify for relief as follows;
- The rate bill will be calculated using the small business non-domestic rating multiplier
- Businesses with rateable values below £5,000 will get relief of 50% of their liability while this relief will be reduced by 1% for every £100 of rateable value for businesses with rateable values between £5,000 and £9,999.
The small business non-domestic rating multiplier for 2008/09 is 45.8p while the standard multiplier for 2008/09 is 46.2p.
Where a property is eligible for charitable relief and small business relief, charitable relief only will apply. Where a property is eligible for rural rate relief and small business rate relief, rural rate relief only will apply. Any transitional relief will be applied before any small business rate relief is applied.
More information on Small Business Rate Relief and details of rateable values from 1/4/2005 for every property can be found on the My Business Rates' website.
Relief may be given on application only which must be made within six months of the end of the financial year to which it relates (unless the rateable value is later reduced to below £15,000 on appeal). A new application must be made in the year of a full revaluation of all properties (every five years).
To apply for Small Business Rate Relief please contact the Local Taxation Section to request an application form.