Business rates FAQs
What will happen if I don't pay my business rates?
Business rates are usually paid by ten monthly instalments from April to the following January. However, the government has put in place regulations that allow businesses to make payments over 12 monthly instalments. If you wish to take up this offer, you can make a written request to us.
Unless you pay via direct debit, instalments are due on the first of each month.
Should you fail to pay your instalments by the due date given on your bill, recovery action will commence. Recovery procedures are in accordance with the Non-Domestic Rating (Collection and Enforcement) (Local Lists) Regulations 1989 and take the following form:
- A reminder notice will be issued approximately 14 days after your instalment becomes due
- Failure to comply with the reminder notice will mean the right to pay by instalments will be lost, and a final notice for balance remaining outstanding for the year will be issued
- Failure to comply with the final notice will lead to the issue of a summons by the magistrate’s court
We apply to the court for a liability order which allows us to:
- Use external enforcement agents
- Instigate insolvency proceedings using the liability order as a proof of debt
If you have any enquiries please contact us.
What are business rates?
National non-domestic rates (NNDR) or business rates are a form of taxation levied in respect of non-domestic premises.
These rates are collected by local councils, and prior to April 2013 were paid to central government, which then redistributed them to each council in accordance with specific pre-determined factors.
Since April 2013, business rates retention arrangements have meant that local councils keep a proportion of the rates paid locally. This money, together with revenue from council taxpayers, the revenue support grant provided by the government, and some other sums, is used to pay for the services provided by the local council and other local authorities in your area.
How are business rates calculated?
Business rates are calculated by multiplying the rateable value (RV) of the property by the appropriate annual multiplier.
Rateable values
These are assessed by valuation officers of the Valuation Office Agency (VOA), an agency of Her Majesty’s Revenues & Customs, and can vary according to the type, size and location of the property, but will broadly represent the yearly rental value the property could have been let for on the open market on a particular date. The VOA creates and maintains a full list of all rateable values, which is available on their website at VOA Business Rates: Find my property. These rates are usually recalculated every five years.
If you consider that the rateable value of your property is incorrect you should contact the VOA, not us. In the meantime, payment should be made in accordance with your latest bill in order to prevent any recovery action being instigated.
Multiplier
These are set nationally by the government, but generally change each year in line with the retail prices index as it stands at the end of the September of the previous year, and to take account of the cost of small business rate relief. There are two multipliers for each year – the standard rating multiplier and the small business rating multiplier. Detailed below are the multipliers for recent financial years.
- Year
- 2006-2007
- Standard multiplier
- 0.433
- Small business multiplier
- 0.426
- Year
- 2007-2008
- Standard multiplier
- 0.444
- Small business multiplier
- 0.441
- Year
- 2008-2009
- Standard multiplier
- 0.462
- Small business multiplier
- 0.458
- Year
- 2009-2010
- Standard multiplier
- 0.485
- Small business multiplier
- 0.481
- Year
- 2010-2011
- Standard multiplier
- 0.414
- Small business multiplier
- 0.407
- Year
- 2011-2012
- Standard multiplier
- 0.433
- Small business multiplier
- 0.426
- Year
- 2012-2013
- Standard multiplier
- 0.458
- Small business multiplier
- 0.450
- Year
- 2013-2014
- Standard multiplier
- 0.471
- Small business multiplier
- 0.462
- Year
- 2014-2015
- Standard multiplier
- 0.482
- Small business multiplier
- 0.471
- Year
- 2015-2016
- Standard multiplier
- 0.493
- Small business multiplier
- 0.480
- Year
- 2016-2017
- Standard multiplier
- 0.497
- Small business multiplier
- 0.484
- Year
- 2017-2018
- Standard multiplier
- 0.479
- Small business multiplier
- 0.466
- Year
- 2018-2019
- Standard multiplier
- 0.493
- Small business multiplier
- 0.480
- Year
- 2019-2020
- Standard multiplier
- 0.504
- Small business multiplier
- 0.491
- Year
- 2020-2021
- Standard multiplier
- 0.512
- Small business multiplier
- 0.499
- Year
- 2021-2022
- Standard multiplier
- 0.512
- Small business multiplier
- 0.499
- Year
- 2022-2023
- Standard multiplier
- 0.512
- Small business multiplier
- 0.499
- Year
2023-2024
- Standard multiplier
0.512
- Small business multiplier
0.499
- Year
2024-2025
- Standard multiplier
0.546
- Small business multiplier
0.499
What is a business rate valuation?
The Valuation Office Agency (VOA) periodically reassesses the rateable values for all non-domestic (business) properties. The purpose of the revaluation is not to change the amount of money collected in rates nationally, but to make sure that individual rateable values reflect the changes that have taken place in the property market since the last revaluation.
The most recent revaluation took effect on 1 April 2023, and will recur every three years thereafter.
The VOA produces a list of the new rateable values, and issue a summary valuation to businesses explaining how they have worked out the rateable value. In most cases, these are available on the VOA Business Rates: Find my property webpage.
The VOA also provides councils with an updated version of the full rating list for their area of responsibility every three months. The latest version for us is available in the open data section of this website.