Business Rates Relief - do you qualify?

Small Business Rates Relief (SBRR) was introduced by the government in April 2005 and about 3500 businesses in Wiltshire receive it. Under the scheme ratepayers who occupy only one rated property in England, where the rateable value is £12,000 or less, will receive a reduction in their liability.

SBRR is financed by a supplement on the rate bills of other businesses. Premises with a rateable value of between £12,000 and £18,000 are not entitled to relief but are not subject to the supplement, if it is the ratepayer's only premises.

The Chancellor of the Exchequer announced in his Budget speech on 23 March that the current temporary increase in SBRR, which was due to end on 30 September 2011, will now continue for a further year.

The previous government temporarily increased the level of SBRR from 1 October 2010 so that eligible ratepayers pay no rates on properties with rateable values up to and including £6,000, with a tapered relief between 100% and 0% for properties with rateable values between £6,000 and £12,000.

This scheme was due to end on 30 September 2011 but will now continue for a further year (1 October 2011 to 30 September 2012).

There are no other changes to the scheme and the government will meet the costs of the increasedlevels of relief.

So for the valuation period 1 April 2010 to 31 March 2015 - eligible properties with:

• A rateable value of £6,000 or less will get 100% rate relief (reverts to 50% from 1 October 2012).
• Rateable values between £6,000 and £12,000 will get relief on a sliding scale from 100% to 0% (reverts to 50% to 0% from 1 October 2012).
• Rateable values between £12,000 and £18,000 will have their bill calculated using the Small Business Non-Domestic Rating Multiplier.

The multiplier is: 1 April 2011 to 31 March 2012 - 42.6p (instead of 43.3p), and 1 April 2010 to 31 March 2011 - 40.7p (instead of 41.4p).

To apply for SBRR businesses must complete and sign an application form and return it to the Business Rates team. The form is on the council's website.

Businesses have until 30 September 2016 to apply for SBRR for the financial years 1 April 2010 - 1 April 2015.

Applications for the financial years 2005/2006 to 2009/10 inclusive can no longer be submitted unless the rateable value of their property has been altered to below the prescribed limits or it is a new entry in the Valuation List from 1 April 2005 onwards.

For more information call Phil Ruddle (Revenue Services Manager) on 01722 434406.