Business Rates
Non-domestic premises are subject to Business Rates. Premises are given a ‘rateable value’ which is based on an assessment of the annual rent of a property if it was available to rent on the open market at a fixed evaluation date. The rateable value is then multiplied by a factor set by central government each year.Only the local authority can calculate your rates liability and this is normally sent to you sometime between February and April.
For further information on business rates you can visit My Business Rates' website.
Small Business Rate Relief
There are a number of different rate relief’s that you can apply for, including small business rate relief. If your rateable value is less than £5,000 you are able to claim 50% rate relief. This relief decreases on a sliding scale by 1% for every £100 of rateable value over £5,000, up to £10,000. Your local billing authority will calculate the exact decrease.
In addition to this relief on liability, eligible businesses with rateable values of between £10,000 and £14,999 (or between £10,000 and £21,499 in London) will have their liability calculated using the small business rate, which is set by central government.
More information on small business rate relief and other types of relief, including where your premises is in a rural area with a population of less than 3000 can be found here.