Retail discount
Retail discount 2023-24
Retail, leisure and hospitality businesses can get 75% relief on their business rates bill from 1 April 2023 to 31 March 2024. This relief is capped and businesses can only receive relief up to the maximum limit of £110,000 relief across all eligible business properties.
If you have more than one occupied business property you can get a retail discount on each one that qualifies, up to the £110,000 cap. We will do our best to identify properties where an award of retail discount will mean that they are likely to exceed the cap and remove the discount.
If we have applied the discount but your business has or will exceed the cap level, you MUST tell us to opt out of the retail discount. We will remove the discount and send you a revised business rates bill. If we have removed the discount as we believe you may exceed the cap but you would like to receive it on your property, please contact us and confirm that you will not exceed the cap. We will reapply the discount and issue a revised bill.
You can refuse to receive a retail discount. Please tell us if you want to opt out of the retail discount. We will remove the discount from your account and send you an updated bill with instalments to pay.
Retail discount 2022-23
Retail, leisure and hospitality businesses can get 50% relief on their business rates bill from 1 April 2022 to 31 March 2023. This relief is capped and businesses can only receive relief up to the maximum limit of £110,000 relief across all eligible business properties.
If you have more than one occupied business property you can get a retail discount on each one that qualifies, up to the £110,000 cap. We will do our best to identify properties where an award of retail discount will mean that they are likely to exceed the cap and remove the discount.
If we have applied the discount but your business has or will exceed the cap level, you MUST tell us to opt out of the retail discount. We will remove the discount and send you a revised business rates bill. If we have removed the discount as we believe you may exceed the cap but you would like to receive it on your property, please contact us and confirm that you will not exceed the cap. We will reapply the discount and issue a revised bill.
You can refuse to receive a retail discount. Please tell us if you want to opt out of the retail discount. We will remove the discount from your account and send you an updated bill with instalments to pay.
Retail discount 2021-22
Retail, leisure and hospitality businesses can get 100% relief on their business rates bill from 1 April to 30 June 2021. There is no rateable value limit on this relief and it is not subject to subsidy allowance (state aid) or any relief caps.
From 1 July 2021, qualifying businesses can get 66% relief on their business rates bill. This relief is capped and businesses can only receive relief up to the maximum limits:
- For businesses mandated to close on 5 January 2021 the maximum discount a business can receive across all of their properties is £2 million.
- For businesses allowed to open (not mandated to close on 5 January 2021) the maximum discount a business can receive across all of their properties is £105,000.
If you have more than one occupied business property you can get a retail discount on each one, up to the cap level that applies to you.
Business rates bills for 2021-22 were issued showing 100% retail discount for the whole of 2021-22. This discount is only applicable until 30 June 2021.
For those businesses in receipt of 100% relief, a revised bill was issued in June 2021 showing how much you have to pay from July onwards. If you are billed business rates for the first time after 15 June 2021, your bill will automatically show this reduction in relief and set out the instalments you should pay for the year.
In some cases, businesses may have more than one property that qualifies for the retail discount. If that is the case, you may not be eligible for 66% relief from the 1 July 2021 if the total amount of relief you will receive exceeds one of the caps. If receiving this relief means you are going to exceed a cap, you MUST tell us to opt out of receiving the discount. We will remove the discount from your account from 1 July 2021 and send you an updated bill with instalments to pay.
You can refuse to receive a retail discount. To opt out of receiving the discount please tell us. We will remove the discount from your account and send you an updated bill with instalments to pay. You have until 30 April 2022 to refuse to receive the discount.
Retail discount 2020-21
Retail, leisure and hospitality businesses can get 100% relief on their business rates bill for 2020-21. There is no rateable value limit on this relief and it is not subject to state aid.
The property must be occupied or closed temporarily due to the government’s advice on COVID-19.
If you have more than one occupied business property you can get a retail discount on each one.
If you think you should receive a retail discount, please contact the Business Rates Team.
Properties that will be considered for a retail discount
Properties that are being used for the sale of goods to visiting members of the public:
- shops (like florists, bakers, butchers, grocers, greengrocers, jewellers, stationers, off licences, chemists, newsagents, hardware stores, supermarkets)
- charity shops
- opticians
- Post Offices
- furnishing shops or display rooms (like carpet shops, double glazing, garage doors)
- car or caravan show rooms
- second hand car lots
- markets
- petrol stations
- garden centres
- art galleries (where art is for sale or hire).
Properties that are being used to provide the following services to visiting members of the public:
- hair and beauty services (like hairdressers, nail bars, beauty salons, tanning shops)
- shoe repairs/ key cutting
- travel agents
- ticket offices (for example, for theatre)
- dry cleaners
- launderettes
- PC, TV or domestic appliance repair
- funeral directors
- photo processing
- tool hire
- car hire
- employment agencies
- estate agents and letting shops
- betting shops.
Properties that are being used for the sale of food and/or drink to visiting members of the public:
- restaurants
- takeaways
- sandwich shops
- coffee shops
- pubs
- bars.
Properties that are being used as cinemas.
Properties that are being used as live music venues:
- properties that are wholly or mainly used for the performance of live music for the purposes of entertaining an audience
- properties can be a live music venue even if they are used for other activities, as long as those other activities are secondary to the performance of live music (for example, the sale of alcohol to audience members)
- properties can still get a discount if they are used infrequently for other purposes.
Properties that are being used for the provision of sport, leisure and facilities to visiting members of the public (including for the viewing of such activities):
- sports groups and clubs
- museums and galleries
- nightclubs
- sport and leisure facilities
- stately homes and historic houses
- theatres
- tourist attractions
- gyms
- wellness centres, spas and massage parlours
- casinos, gambling clubs and bingo halls.
Properties that are being used for the assembly of visiting members of the public:
- public halls
- clubhouses, clubs and institutions.
Properties used as hotels, guest and boarding premises and self-catering accommodation:
- hotels, guest and boarding houses
- holiday homes
- caravan parks and sites.
Properties that will not be considered for a retail discount
- financial services (like banks, building societies, cash points, bureaux de change, short-term loan providers)
- medical services (like vets, dentists, doctors, osteopaths, chiropractors)
- professional services (like solicitors, accountants, insurance agents, financial advisers)
- Post Office sorting offices
- event companies
- trade suppliers to the retail, leisure or hospitality industries
- online retailers.
These are not complete lists. If you’re unsure if your business is eligible for a retail discount, please contact us.