13. Business Rate Introduction
The business rate is the means by
which businesses contribute to the cost of providing local
authority services. The Valuation Officer of the Inland Revenue
values every business property in the country and gives each a
rateable value. The Government sets a 'rate in the pound' and the
yearly amount payable for a property is calculated by multiplying
its rateable value by the rate-in-the-pound. For example if the
rateable value of a property is £8,450 and the rate-in-the-pound is
45p then the amount due for the year is £3,802.50. A new
rate-in-the-pound is set every year.
The business rate is generally
charged to the occupier of a property or the leaseholder or owner
if it is unoccupied. If a property is only occupied for part of the
year the rate is apportioned for that part only and if it remains
unoccupied for more than three months the owner is charged at half
rate. Every ratepayer is assumed to want to pay by monthly
instalments and there are powers of enforcement in the event of
non-payment as well as the full range of rights for ratepayers to
appeal against decisions.
The local authority in whose area
the business property is located collects the business rate and
pays the total income from all business properties to the
Government. The Government then re-distributes the national income
to individual local authorities based on an assessment of their
individual needs. This ensures that businesses are treated equally
across the country as regards the level of the rate whilst at the
same time recognising the different spending needs of different
local authorities.
The business rate is the subject
of a large amount of legislation and regulations and in the
remainder of this site we present the information and detail about
the legislation and regulations in the form of replies to some of
the most
frequently asked
questions.
13.1 Frequently asked
questions
The following are the most
frequently asked questions about the business rate. The information
and detail in the rest of this site is built in the form of replies
and between them the replies will deal with all the main points
about the business rate you are likely to need to know. You can go
straight to a particular question by clicking on it and as you
progress you will see that by choosing or disregarding the details
links it is your choice as to how much detail you choose to
take.