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Business rates are an essential part of the UK economy, and every place used for commercial purposes is charged the business rate that the VOA prescribes. People can get a discount on the business rates which is primarily known as business rates relief.
Business rates relief is of different types and as for the category that suits your place you can apply for the discount. Business rate relief can be mandatory or discretionary. The amount of the relief is divided between the local council and the central government, which is used to improve society.
Different Types of Business Rates Relief
1. Small Business Rate Relief
Small business rate relief is widely applied by the people considering it offers a significant discount to the users if they meet the proper conditions. To avail of employee benefits of the small business rate relief, the value of your property must be less than £15,000, and you use only one property for your business.
2. Empty Property Rates and Relief
Some people on the empty property don’t use it for running their business because of specific reasons like a business failure or a small break. Under empty property rates and relief, you aren’t required to pay the business rate for three months. But after the completion of three months, you will have to pay the full business date, which is applicable on the property.
3. Nursery Discount
Nursery discount is another business rate relief category that you can apply for with any other great relief. For example, if you have applied for small business rate relief and get the discount and that category and your business also falls under the nursery category, you can apply for that. To get the nursery discount on your business, your business should be used to provide the education of the foundation years, and it must be registered in Ofsted’s early years.
4. Hardship Rate Relief
As the name suggests, hardship rate relief is provided to those under a financial burden, and without this discount, they would be in a severe economic crisis. Another reason the hardship rate relief can be provided is if your property and discount favor the local people.
5. Partly Occupied Property Rate Relief
Often people use their home to run their business considering nowadays work from home has become the new normal. If you occupy only a specific part of a property to run your business, you can apply for part-occupied property rate relief.
6. Transitional Relief
After a period, every business rate is evaluated, and the transitional relief limits the change in your bill. In simple words, after revaluation, the changes in your bill are not significant, and with the transitional relief, they happen slowly. You are eligible for transitional relief if you have property management in the UK The market price of a property does not go up or down in a meaningful manner.
7. Rural Rate Relief
If your business falls under the rural rate relief category, we can apply for the discount, and it is available in both mandatory and discretionary relief. You can get up to 50% of the discount under rural rate relief.
To be eligible for this business rate relief, your business must be situated in a rural area that has a population of less than 3000. If your business is the only one in a particular area, you can get a handsome discount on your business.
8. Exempted Property Rate Relief
Specific properties are not required to pay the business rates under the exempted property rate relief category. Those properties are:
- Agricultural land and buildings
- Property used for the disabled people
- Religious buildings
- Buildings used for legal purposes
9. Charitable Rate Relief
If you have a business related to charity or community service, such as a sports club, you can apply for charitable rate relief and get up to 70% of the discount on the business rate. Your property must be used for charitable purposes. Even if you don’t qualify as the one, you can apply for discretionary relief if a voluntary organization or NGO.
10. Local Newspaper Relief
The last category of business rate relief is local newspaper relief which is given to those people who have a property used for journalism reporting on behalf of a local newspaper.
Suppose a local newspaper has different properties used for the same purpose. In that case, the business rate discount will be provided to only one property under local newspaper relief. The same rule is applicable if different local newspapers use a single building for their work.
11. Mandatory and Discretionary Reliefs
As you saw that there are different types of rate releases that you can apply for, and all of them are characterized into two categories. The first one is mandatory relief, and the second one is discretionary relief. Mandatory relief is provided to those who fulfill all the stated conditions and are required to qualify for the particular business rates relief. One such example of mandatory relief is small business rate relief.
As far as discretionary reliefs are concerned, they are only granted in certain circumstances mentioned by the law. These releases are not given, but the local council decides whether or not you are eligible to get the discount and how much you should be getting.
Wrapping It Up
This was everything that you need to know about business rates relief, and we hope this article was helpful for you. For more information, you can contact your local council and VOA.
In the local council office, you can apply for the rate relief, and before they send you the revised bill, after assessing your documents, you will be required to pay the total amount of the business rate. After assessing your documents, if the authorities find you are eligible for a particular business, your discount will be returned to you accordingly.