The non-domestic rates, or business rates, collected by local councils are the means by which businesses and others who occupy non-domestic property make a contribution towards the cost of local services. Except in the City of London where special arrangements apply, the rates are pooled by central government and redistributed to local councils as part of the annual formula grant settlement. This money, together with revenue from council taxpayers, revenue support grant provided by the Government and certain other sums, is used to pay for the services provided by your local council and other local authorities in your area.
For more information download a copy of the Council Tax and Business Rate booklet 2009/2010
From 31st July 2009, you can spread the payment of increases in your 2009/10 business rates bill over three years. For most businesses this will be 3% of their 2009/10 business rates bill.
So, if your yearly bill is £5,000, you will be able to put off paying £150.
You will be allowed to payback half the amount deferred in 2010/11 and half in 2011/12. For more information click on the Deferral Scheme Information download on the right. To apply the Deferral Scheme Application Form for this is under downloads on the right
Apart from properties that are exempt from Business Rates, each non-domestic property has a rateable value which is set by the valuation officers of the Valuation Office Agency (VOA), an Agency of the Her Majesty's Revenue & Customs. It draws up and maintains a full list of all rateable values, which are available on their website at www.voa.gov.uk.
The rateable value of your property will be shown on the front of your bill. The rateable value broadly represents the yearly rent the property could have been let for on the open market on a particular date. For the revaluation that came into effect on 1 April 2005, this date was set as 1 April 2003. The valuation officer has to maintain the list and may alter the value if circumstances change. The ratepayer (and certain others who have an interest in the property) can also appeal against the value shown in the list if they believe it is wrong.
Further information on the grounds for making an appeal, and on how to make one, can be found on the VOA website at www.voa.gov.uk or from your local valuation office, whose address is: Manchester Valuation Office, 17th Floor, Portland Tower, Portland Street, Manchester, M1 3LD. Telephone 0161 245 4200. Email: manchestergroup.vo@voa.gsi.gov.uk.
The local council works out the Business Rates bill by multiplying the rateable value of the property by the appropriate multiplier. There are two multipliers; the standard non-domestic rating multiplier and the small business non-domestic rating multiplier. The former is higher to pay for small business rate relief. The government sets the multipliers for each financial year for the whole of England. The multipliers change each year in line with inflation and to take account of the cost of small business rate relief.
In the year of revaluation the multipliers are set at a level which will keep the total amount raised in rates after the revaluation the same as before, plus inflation for that year. The current multipliers are shown on the front of your bill.
Property values normally change a good deal between each revaluation. Transitional arrangements help to phase in the effects of these changes by limiting increases on bills. To help pay for the limits on increases in bills, there also have to be limits on reductions in bills. Under the transition scheme, limits continue to apply to yearly increases and decreases until the full amount is due (rateable value times the multiplier).
The scheme applies only to the bill based on a property at the time of the revaluation. If there are any changes to the property after the revaluation date, transitional arrangements will not normally apply to the part of a bill that relates to any increase in rateable value due to those changes. Further information about transitional arrangements and other reliefs may be obtained from Oldham Council or the website www.mybusinessrates.gov.uk
Please note: There will be no transitional Relief awarded on your bill for the financial year 2009-10
Business Rates will not be payable in the first three months that a property is empty, (unless the property has been occupied for less than 6 weeks since the last empty period, in which case liability commences immediately the property becomes unoccupied). This is extended to six months in the case of certain industrial properties.
After this period, rates are payable at the standard occupied rate unless the unoccupied property rate has been reduced by the Government by order. In most cases, the unoccupied property rate is zero for properties owned by charities and Community Amateur Sports Clubs.
There are a number of exemptions from the empty property rate. For 2009-10 these are property
a) which is unoccupied for a continuous period not exceeding three months;
b) which is a qualifying industrial property that has been unoccupied for a continuous period not exceeding six months;
c) whose owner is prohibited by law from occupying it or allowing it to be occupied;
d) kept vacant by reason of action taken by or on behalf of the Crown or any local or public authority with a view to prohibiting the occupation or to the acquisition of it;
e) which is the subject of a building preservation notice within the meaning of the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 or is included in a list compiled under section 1 of that Act;
f) which is included in the Schedule of monuments compiled under section 1 of the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act 1979;
g) whose rateable value is less than £15,000;
h) whose owner is entitled to possession only in his capacity as the personal representative of a deceased person;`\
i) where, in respect of the owner's estate, there subsists a bankruptcy order within the meaning of section 381(2) of the Insolvency Act 1986;
j) whose owner is entitled to possession of the hereditament in his capacity as trustee under a deed of arrangement to which the Deeds of Arrangement Act 1914 applies;
k) whose owner is a company which is subject to a winding-up order made under the Insolvency Act 1986 or which is being wound up voluntarily under that Act;
l) whose owner is a company in administration within the meaning of paragraph 1 of Schedule B1 to the Insolvency Act 1986 or is subject to an administration order made under the former administration provisions within the meaning of article 3 of the Enterprise Act 2002 (Commencement No. 4 and Transitional Provisions and Savings) Order 2003;
m) whose owner is entitled to possession of the hereditament in his capacity as liquidator by virtu of an order made under section 112 or section 145 of the Insolvency Act 1986.
To claim unoccupied property relief, you must inform the Business Rates Section as soon as the property becomes vacant. Please contact the Business Rates Section on telephone number 0161 770 6677
A Ratepayer is liable for the full non-domestic rate whether a property is wholly occupied or only partly occupied. Where a property is partly occupied for a short time, the local authority has discretion in certain cases to award relief in respect of the unoccupied part.
To apply for this relief you must contact the Business Rates Office as soon as the partial occupancy begins. An inspection of the premises is usually made by the Council to confirm the partial occupancy. You may also be required to provide a plan of the premises so that the Valuation Office Agency can accurately apportion the rateable value between the occupied and unoccupied areas.
Charitable relief, relief for registered Community Amateur Sports Clubs (CASCs) and Discretionary Relief
Charities and Registered CASCs are entitled to 80 % relief where the property is occupied by the Charity or Club and is wholly or mainly used for charitable purposes or as a Registered CASC. In both cases, local councils have discretion to give further relief on the remaining bill. Please contact the Business Rates section on telephone number 0161 770 6677, for an application form
Authorities also have discretion to give relief on all or part of any rate bill for property occupied by certain non-profit making bodies.They can also consider giving rate relief in cases of hardship or where part of a property is beyond use for a certain period.
This relief is only available to ratepayers who apply to their local authority and who occupy either— (a) one property, or (b) one main property and other additional properties providing those additional properties each have a rateable value of less than £2,200.
The rateable value of the property mentioned in (a), or the aggregate rateable value of all properties mentioned in (b), must be under £15,000 outside London or £21,500 within London, on 1st April in the financial year in question, on the day for which relief is being sought, and each intervening day. If the rateable value, or aggregate rateable value, increases above those levels, relief will cease from the day of the increase.
Ratepayers who satisfy these conditions will have the bill for their single or main property calculated using the lower small business non-domestic rating multiplier rather than the ordinary nondomestic rating multiplier that is used to calculate the liability of other businesses. In addition, if the single or main property is shown on the rating list with a rateable value of up to £10,000, the ratepayer will receive a percentage reduction in their rates bill for this property of up to a maximum of 50% for a property with a rateable value of not more than £5,000.
If an application for relief is granted, provided the ratepayer's circumstances do not change, the application will not need to be renewed until the next revaluation of non-domestic premises, which happens every five years. Certain changes in circumstances will need to be notified to the local authority by the ratepayer (other changes will be picked up by the local authority).
The changes which must be notified are -
the ratepayer taking up occupation of a property they did not occupy at the time of making their application for relief; and
an increase in the rateable value of a property occupied by the ratepayer in an area other than the area of the local authority which granted the relief.
Notification of these changes must be given to the local authority within 4 weeks of the day after the day the change happened. If this happens, there will be no interruption to the ratepayer's entitlement to the relief. A notification that the ratepayer has taken up occupation of an additional property must be by way of a fresh application for relief; notice of an increase in rateable value must be given in writing.
Full details on the eligibility criteria and on how to apply for this relief are available from the local authority
Certain types of business in rural villages, with a population below 3,000 may qualify for rate relief of 50 %. Businesses that qualify for this relief are the sole general store, the sole post office in the village, or a food shop with a rateable value of less than £7,000; and the sole pub and the sole petrol station in the village provided it has a rateable value of less than £10,500 Local councils have discretion to give further relief on the remaining bill on suchproperty.
The local council may decide to give up to 100 % relief to any other business in such a rural village, with a rateable value of less than £14,000, if it is satisfied that the business is of benefit to the community and having regard to the interests of its Council Tax payers.
Areas designated as rural within this Authority are: Austerlands, Delph, Denshaw, Diggle, Dobcross, Freizland, Grasscroft, Greenfield, Grotton, Scouthead, Uppermill, Woodhouses.
Ratepayers do not have to be represented in discussions about their rateable value or their rates bill. Appeals against rateable values can be made free of charge. However, ratepayers who do wish to be represented should be aware that members of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS - website www.rics.org.uk) and the Institute of Revenues Rating and Valuation (IRRV - website www.irrv.org.uk) are qualified and are regulated by rules of professional conduct designed to protect the public from misconduct. Before you employ a rating adviser, you should check that they have the necessary knowledge and expertise, as well as appropriate indemnity insurance. Take great care and, if necessary, seek further advice before entering into any contract.
You can now receive your Business rates electronically. If you wish to take advantage of this facility please send us your email address, and remember to quote your Business Rate reference number. e-mail: business.rates@oldham.gov.uk.
Please note - as occupier if you pay rent inclusive of business rates, this arrangement may not be binding on the Council and you may still be legally liable to pay the business rate bill in your name.