Reductions to rates bills
General
Business Rates bills can be reduced in the following
circumstances:
The information given below is a guide to these reductions only.
For more details or to apply for a reduction, please contact the Business Rates Team.
Empty
properties
No rates are charged on empty industrial properties for the
first 6 months that they are empty and on other empty
properties for the first 3 months that they are empty.
Thereafter, the owner of the empty property is liable to pay an
empty property rate (100% of the full charge) unless the property
falls into one of the following categories:
- From 1st April, 2011, if it has a rateable value of
less than £2,600 (for 2010/11, less than £18,000);
- the ratepayer is a charity and the property, when next in use,
will be used for charitable purposes;
- the ratepayer is a CASC and the property, when next in use,
will be used as a CASC;
- it cannot be occupied by law (eg. because of a Health
Notice);
- the person liable is only liable in his capacity as a
personal representative of a person who has died, a liquidator or
trustee under a deed of arrangement;
- the person entitled to possession is the subject of
insolvency proceedings;
- it is a listed building or is subject to a preservation
order.
Partly-occupied properties
If a property is partly occupied for a temporary period, you may
be entitled to a reduction in your rates bill. However,
from 1st April, 2011, if a property has a rateable value of £2,600
or above (for 2010/11, £18,000 or above), in most cases the
period of the reduction is limited to 3 months (6 months for
industrial properties).
In these cases, we can ask the Valuation Officer to work out the
rateable value of both the occupied and unoccupied areas.
Charities
By law charities are entitled to 80% relief from rates where a
property is wholly or mainly used for charitable purposes.
To qualify for this mandatory relief, charity shops must meet
the following conditions:
- they must be wholly or mainly used for selling goods given to
the charity; and
- money raised from selling goods must be used for the purposes
of the charity.
We can grant additional relief up to the whole of the remaining
20% of the rates bill.
To apply for relief:
- click here to download an application form to fill in and return to
us
- contact us and we will send you an application form
Community Amateur Sports Club (CASC's)
From 1st April 2004, many amateur sports clubs will be entitled
to 80% relief from rates. We can also grant additional relief up to
the whole remaining 20% of the rates bill.
To qualify for this relief, an amateur sports club must be
registered with the Inland Revenue as a Community Amateur Sports
Club (CASC).
To register as a CASC, a club must be able to answer “yes” to
the following 5 questions:
To apply for relief:
- Is membership of the club open to the whole community?
- Are all the club’s facilities available to members without
discrimination?
- Does the club’s constitution prevent profits of the club being
distributed amongst its members (i.e. any profits must go back into
the club)?
- Does the club provide facilities for and encourage
participation in eligible sports?
- Does the club’s constitution provide that on dissolution of the
club, any net assets are applied for approved sporting or
charitable purposes?
You can get more information by visiting the Inland Revenue’s
website at: www.hmrc.gov.uk
To apply for relief:
Non-profit-making organisations
We can grant up to 100% discretionary relief to certain
non-profit-making organisations, such as sports clubs and
recreational societies such as gardening societies and so on.
To apply for relief:
- click here to download an application form to fill in and return to
us
- contact us and we will send you an application form
Small Business Rates Relief Scheme
The following businesses are entitled to Small Business Rate
Relief provided that the property is occupied.
- Most businesses with a rateable value of £2,400 or less will
receive a 50% reduction to their rates bill;
- Most businesses with a rateable value between £2,401 and £7,800
will receive a 25% reduction to their rates bill;
- Post offices with a rateable value of £9,000 or less will
receive a 100% reduction to their rates bill;
- Post offices with a rateable value between £9,001 and £12,000
will receive a 50% reduction to their rates bill;
For these businesses, we will make the reductions to rates bills
automatically - there is no need to apply.
In addition, retail businesses with a ratable value between
£7,801 and £11,000 can apply for a 25% reduction to their bill.
Retail businesses are businesses which consist wholly or mainly
of the sale of goods, including the sale for consumption on or off
the premises of meals, refreshments or alcohol.
Child care premises with a rateable value between £2,001 and
£12,000 and credit unions with a rateable value between £2,001 and
£9,000 can apply for a 50% reduction to their bill.
The following categories of business are not entitled to
relief:
- advertising rights;
- beach huts;
- car parks and spaces;
- Crown properties;
- electronic communication stations;
- properties occupied by local authorities and community
councils;
If a property receiving Small Business Rate Relief becomes
unoccupied, it will no longer be entitled to that relief. From 1st
April, 2011, if it has a rateable value of under £2,600, it will be
exempt from empty property rates. If it has a rateable value of
£2,600 or over, it will have to pay empty property rates (100% of
the full charge) after an initial rate-free period of 3 months (6
months for industrial properties). However, for 2010/11, all small
businesses are exempt from empty property rates.
Small Business Rate Relief - October 2010 - March
2014
The Welsh Assembly Government has announced that the increased
amount of rates relief for small businesses in Wales has been
extended to cover the period 1st October 2010 and 31st
March 2014. The following leaflet applies to 31st March
2014.
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Hardship
In exceptional circumstances, we may grant a reduction to the
rates bill if you can prove that you are suffering hardship and if
it is interests of council taxpayers for the reduction to be
granted.
Before we will consider granting hardship relief, you must fill
in an application form setting out the reasons for your application
and you must also send us your audited accounts.
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Last Updated: 14.03.2013 at 16:20