Business Rates | Retail Discount Scheme

Councils are currently issuing their 2019/20 Business Rates bills. Therefore, it is important you review whether you are eligible for the Retail Discount Scheme and check whether your council has applied the relief to your bill.

You may recall that, in the 2018 Budget, the government promised to provide a business rates 'Retail Discount' for retail properties with a rateable value of less than £51,000. Retail properties are classified as properties used primarily as shops, restaurants, cafes and drinking establishments.  The value of the discount should be one third of your bill.

Councils were expected to apply the relief from the start of the 2019/20 billing cycle. Unfortunately, we have noticed that not all councils have reflected the relief on their bills. If you believe you are entitled to this relief and it has not been included on your Business Rates bill, you will need to claim the relief directly from your council.

You can get in touch with your council here.

We recommend you review your Business Rates bill to ensure the correct reliefs are applied.

We would also like to remind you that if you have considered appealing your ratings valuation from April 2017 and have not yet done so, now is the time to consider this. We can put you in touch with surveyors who specialist in this area, if needed.

For assistance regarding the Retail Discount Scheme, please get in touch.

Article by

Paul Dell

Partner and SME expert.

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