Business Rates (also known as National Non-Domestic Rates) are a tax on most non domestic properties including:
- shops
- offices
- pubs
- warehouses
- factories
- holiday rental homes or guest houses
You’ll probably have to pay business rates if you use a building or part of a building for non-domestic purposes.
How business rates work
Business rates are worked out based on the property’s ‘rateable value’. This is its open market rental value on 1 April 2008, based on an estimate by the Valuation Office Agency (VOA). You can estimate your business rates by multiplying the rateable value by the correct ‘multiplier’ (an amount set by central government). Your bill will be reduced if your property’s eligible for business rates relief.
The tax is set by the central government and collected by local authorities. The tax is the way that those who occupy non-domestic property contribute towards the cost of local services. Under the business rates retention arrangements introduced from 1 April 2013, local authorities keep a proportion of the business rates paid locally. The money is used to help pay for the services the district council provides.
2017 revaluation
Every five years the Valuation Office Agency carries out a revaluation of all the rateable values in England and Wales. The current valuation came into force from 1 April 2017 with the introduction of the 2017 Rating List.
You can check your 2017 Rateable Value by visiting the the Valuation Office.
There is a transitional scheme in operation to help phase in any significant increases/decreases in Rateable Value under the 2017 revaluation.
Business rates contacts
You can query your rateable value by contacting the Valuation Office Agency (VOA)on telephone: 03000 501 501 or via the website: https://www.gov.uk/introduction-tobusiness-rates
You can get help from a qualified rating surveyor through one of the following
organisations:
- Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS)
- Institute of Revenues, Rating and Valuation (IRRV)
- Rating Surveyors Association
You may be charged for any advice you get from a rating surveyor.
You can contact the South Oxfordshire Business Rates team on 0845 300 5562 or the Vale Vale of the White Horse District Council Business Rates team on 0845 300 2839. Alternatively, you can visit the South or Vale websites.