The 2023 Non-Domestic Rating Act received Royal Assent at the end of October.
The Act runs to some 60 pages. This is a brief summary of the main changes.
The background to the Act is via consultations carried out from 2020 onwards and also with regard to the “emergency” changes in law during Covid. The Act will affect liabilities for some, and administrative duties for all.
The Rating List: Duration of a Rating List … Read more
The Government issued on 20/12/2021 three new pieces of information and guidance you should be aware of: -
This Bill received Royal Assent on the 15th December and has effectively barred Covid-19 as a Material Change of Circumstances for Business Rates Appeals.
Why has this happened? Clearly because the Government were also of the opinion that it was a valid MCC and there was going to be too much tax loss.
In its place the Government are supporting Local Authorities in England to the tune of £1.5bn in reliefs to be offered to … Read more
In the final part of our post-Budget round-up we outline the changes to introduce ratepayer mandatory duties and reduction in CCA appeal rights. 1. Duty to Inform; (D2I) The government will introduce:
Following on in our series of Rating reform measures emanating from the October 2021 Budget, the government has announced a new relief to support investment in property improvements. This will enable businesses to adapt to meet rising demand, make improvements to their premises, and enhance productivity as employees return to the workplace. The measure will be introduced in 2023 and will be reviewed in 2028. To receive the improvement relief, ratepayers will need to demonstrate … Read more
The Government has published a technical consultation on reforms to the business rates system in England. This follows on from the Chancellor’s Budget Announcements in October 2021. We will outline the proposed changes in a series of Articles, this being the first. From April 2023, the government will introduce an exemption for eligible plant and machinery used in onsite renewable energy generation and storage, and a 100% relief for eligible low-carbon heat networks that have … Read more
On 1st July, the Government issued a consultation document on the above matter. The proposal is for the current nominal 5-year Revaluation period (subsequently extended to 7 years for the 2010 List and 6 years for the 2017 List) to be reduced to a set 3 year period.
The document can be found here.
This would appear to form part of the Chancellor’s Fundamental Review of Business Rates, currently delayed to October 2021, but … Read more
In his Budget announcement on 3 March 2021 The Chancellor announced the Restart Grant . It replaces previous government grants, like the Local Restrictions Support Grant.
Businesses in these sectors are eligible for the Restart Grant:
The grant is designed to help support these businesses as they reopen, because they’ll still be subject to restrictions. For example, pubs and restaurants can only … Read more
Many of those ineligible for reliefs have been appealing for discounts on their rates bills, arguing the pandemic represented a ‘material change of circumstance’ (MCC). The government is of the opinion that market-wide economic changes to property values, such as from COVID-19, can only be properly considered at general rates revaluations, and will therefore be legislating to rule out COVID-19 related MCC appeals. The Statutory Instrument to achieve this was laid before Parliament yesterday and … Read more