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If you are a business person, you must be well aware of the business rates applied on a business property. VOA determines business rates as per the law, and every commercial property has to pay the business rate.
Another thing that you must be aware of regarding the business rate is that there are plenty of business rates relief available and granted by the law that can help you reduce the business rate applied on your business property.
Small Business Rates Relief
When you start a business or take up property development to set up your business, you can apply for small business rates relief. You can either do this online or by going to a council.
Among plenty of business rates relief granted by the government, the most popular one is small business rates relief that is applicable on specific properties and is highly beneficial for the people who have a small business and are unsure about their future.
Every rate relief is determined as per the rateable value of the property. If you want to apply for small business relief, the rateable value of your property must be less than £15,000.
Information on Small Business Rates Relief
You can avail of the complete small business rate relief if the rate of a property is £12000 or less than that. But if the value of a property falls between £12,001 and £15,000, the small business rate relief will decrease slowly from hundred percent to zero eventually.
There are some instances in which many small businesses do not qualify for the small business rate relief. In that situation, also you don’t have to worry because there are chances that your bill will be granted by working with rateable value with an even smaller business multiplier.
This exception is only granted to those small businesses whose properties’ rateable value is below £51,000. The standard multipliers for business rates are 50.4p, and a lowered small business multiplier is 49.1p.
Small Business Rates Relief & Multiple Properties
A lot of people have different properties that they use for business purposes. To get the small business rate relief, there are certain conditions that you must meet if you want to get this discount if you have multiple properties.
Conditions
- Every property that you own must have a rateable value below or £2,899.
- The total amount of the rateable value of the multiple properties used for business must be less than £20,000.
(This limit can change from area to area. For example, in London, it is £28,000.)
While applying for small business rate relief, you must mention if you have multiple properties because if you do not do so and the council finds it on their own, it will be considered a fraud, and strict action will be taken against you.
Another point that you must keep in mind is that you cannot apply for small business rate relief if you are already receiving a mandatory rural relief for charitable relief.
Who Pays the Small Business Rates Relief?
If you are a single person who runs business services and you are the ratepayer, you will be required to sign the document; however, if it is a profit company, then the document must be signed by an authoritative figure on behalf of the ratepayer. It can be the manager of the company.
How to Apply For Small Business Rates Relief?
Earlier, the process of applying for small business rates relief was different. Still, since everything has become digital, there are various government websites where you can download a document to apply for small business rates relief.
You can download the form, fill it and send it to the local council that will assess your document and the business statement to see if you are eligible for small business rate relief or not.
Till the assessment of your application is not completed, you will have to continue paying the original amount of the business rate. If you get the small business rate relief on your business, the local council will send you a revised bill, and they’ll refund the amount you have paid extra.
In the small business rate relief form, you will have to mention your name, address, and the rateable value of the business. A declaration comes attached, which contains an anti-fraud declaration that you have to sign and disclose if you have multiple properties or not.
In the declaration, you only have to mention the multiple properties, and there is no need for you to mention your yearly turnover or any other sensitive information.
Revaluation of Small Business Rates Relief
After a specific period, every business property goes through revaluation in which a new business rate is prescribed to the property as per the existing market value of the business.
When the business rate of property changes technically, the business rate relief also changes. So, every time a revaluation happens, small business rate relief changes are also bound to happen.
Wrapping it Up
Small business rate relief is a great scheme that helps small businesses flourish and help them manage their finance in a better way. We tried to cover everything you need to know about small business rates relief, and for more information, you can go through the government websites.
You can apply for the small business rate relief online. To know about the rateable value of your property, you can contact the local council. They will guide you through calculating the business rates and applying for the business rate relief accordingly.