Subject to certain eligibility criteria below if
your rateable value is less than £6,000 following the
2010 Business Rate Revaluation the small business rate multiplier
can be used and you can also get 50% rate relief.
To help small businesses the relief was increased to 100%
from 1 October 2010 as a temporary measure and currently this
allowance has been extended through to 30 September 2012.
If your rateable value is between £6,001 and £11,999 the small
business rate multiplier is still used but the rate relief
will decrease on a sliding scale down to 0% at the upper
end of this range.
If your rateable value is between £12,000 and £17,999
the small business rate multiplier is used but there is no
additional relief.
Eligibility Criteria
The property must be within the thresholds above.
Relief is only available to ratepayers with either
- one property, or
- one main property and other additional properties providing
those additional properties have rateable values less than £2,600
and the total value all the properties remains under the threshold
(i.e. £18,000). The bills for the additional properties will be
calculated using the standard non-domestic rating multiplier.
You can use the application form available here but it needs to be
printed, signed and returned to the Non-Domestic Rates Section.
Calculation of the Bill - Changes through
the Year
Relief is applied to one non-domestic property only.
The threshold (£18,000) is based on the location of the eligible
property - not the location of the additional properties.
The bill is calculated for each chargeable day for which it remains
eligible. As soon as a ratepayer fails to meet the criteria above,
they are no longer due the relief.
Registration
Where the ratepayer is a person, the ratepayer must sign the
application, and in any other case, i.e. a company, it must be
signed by a person with authority to sign on behalf of the
ratepayer.
Currently you can apply for Small Business Rate Relief at any
time during the current Valuation Period and for a further 6 months
after either the end of this period. You can also apply up to 6
months after the date the authority is told about a change in
the rateable value that means the property would
be eligible for relief if this is later.
A Valuation Period is the period of 5 years for which a local
non-domestic rating list is in force.
This means you can still get Small Business Rate Relief
backdated to 1 April 2010 although if you think you may be eligible
you should apply as soon as possible in case the rules change in
future.
Application Form
An application form is available in two
formats. You can complete these on-line (or by hand) but it needs
to be printed, signed and returned to the Non-Domestic Rates
Section
Small Business Rate Relief Form
(PDF)
Small Business Rate
Relief Form (Word)
Interaction with other Reliefs
If a ratepayer is eligible for charity relief or rural rate
relief then they receive that relief rather than small business
rate relief.
Transitional relief is applied before the small business rate
relief is applied.
Contact
Telephone: 01304 872195
E-mail: nndr@dover.gov.uk
