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Business Rates
This service is administered by the Revenues & Benefits Service.
The non-domestic rates, or business rates, collected by North Hertfordshire District Council are the means by which businesses and others who occupy non-domestic property make a contribution towards the cost of local services. The rates are collected by the District Council, pooled centrally by central government then redistributed to local councils according to the number of people living in the area.
National Non-Domestic Rating Multiplier
The rating multiplier is issued by the Government on a yearly basis and normally changes in line with inflation. By law, the multiplier cannot go up more than the rate of inflation, except in the year of a revaluation when it is set at a level which will keep the total amount raised in rates after revaluation the same as before, plus inflation for that year. From 1st April 2005 there are two multipliers, the standard non-domestic rating multiplier and the small business rating multiplier. These multipliers are shown on the front of your bill.
Rateable Value
Each non-domestic property that is subject to business rates will have a rateable value set by the Valuation Office Agency. The Valuation Office Agency is an Executive Agency of the Inland Revenue.
If you are a business ratepayer, the rateable value of your property will be shown on the front of your bill.
The rateable value broadly represents the yearly rent the property could have been let for on the open market on a particular date. For the revaluation that came into effect on 1st April 2005, this date was set at 1st April 2003.
By law the Valuation Officer must maintain the Valuation List. If you consider your rateable is wrong, you may appeal. The ratepayer (and certain others who have an interest in the property) can appeal against the value shown in the list if they believe it is wrong. Further information on the grounds for making an appeal, and on how to make one, can be found on the Valuation Office Agency website as above.
Caution! – Rating Advisers
Ratepayers do not have to be represented in discussions about their rateable value or their rates bill. Appeals against rateable values can be made free of charge. However, ratepayers who do wish to be represented should be aware that members of the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors and the Institute of Revenues Rating and Valuation - IRRV are qualified and are regulated by rules of professional conduct designed to protect the public from misconduct.
Before you employ a rating adviser, you should check that they have the necessary knowledge and expertise, as well as appropriate indemnity insurance.
Transitional Arrangements
Property values normally change a good deal between each revaluation. Transitional arrangements help to phase in the effects of theses changes by limiting the amount by which a bill may rise following a revaluation. To help pay for the limits on increases in bills after revaluation, there also have to be limits on reductions in bills. Under the transitional scheme, limits continue to apply to yearly increases and decreases until the full amount is due (rateable value times the multiplier).
The scheme applies only to the bill based on a property at the time of the revaluation. If there are any changes to the property after the revaluation date, transitional arrangements will not normally apply to the part of a bill that applies to any increase in rateable value due to those changes. Any transitional adjustments will be shown on the front of your bill.
Further information about transitional arrangements and other reliefs can also be obtained from My Business Rates