What Is Business Rates?
Business Rates (also known as National Non-Domestic Rates) are a tax on business properties. The tax is set by the government and collected by local councils. All rates collected nationally are paid into the National Non-Domestic Rating Pool, which in turn is then redistributed to councils on the basis of population. The money is used to help pay for the services Dudley Council provides.
Rateable Value
All businesses have a rateable value which broadly represents the annual rent that the property could have been let for on the open market in 2008. The rateable value of non-domestic property is fixed in most cases by an independent Valuation Officer of the Valuation Office Agency.
You can search the list for your rateable value on the Valuation Office Agency's website.
The values of all properties in respect of which rates are payable to Dudley are shown in the local rating list. Copies of the list are kept at Council Offices, Priory Street, Dudley and at the Valuation Office Agency, Regent Court, 14-17 George Road, Edgbaston, Birmingham, B15 1NU. Telephone 0300 050 1501.
If you think your rateable value may be wrong, you can apply to the Valuation Officer to change it. >> more information about Appeals.
Rating Multiplier
The national non-domestic rating multiplier is the rate in the pound by which the rateable value is multiplied to produce the annual rate bill for a property. It is set annually by the government and except in a revaluation year cannot by law rise by more than the amount of the increase in the retail price index.
Transitional Arrangements
Transitional arrangements will phase in the effect of significant changes in liability which arise from the 2010 revaluation of non-domestic property. Where appropriate, these arrangements will operate until March 2015 when all non-domestic property will be revalued. There are limits on the percentage by which bills may increase or decrease each year. Special rules deal with changes in rateable values and the merger or splitting of existing properties.
Rating Advice
If you require advice about whether to appeal against rateable values you are advised to consult a reputable independent rating advisor. Please take care - there may be fraudsters operating in the area.
Members of the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS), the Incorporated Society of Valuers and Auctioneers (ISVA) and the Institute of Revenues Rating and Valuation (IRRV) are regulated by rules of professional conduct designed to protect the public from malpractice and are required to hold adequate professional indemnity insurance. They have produced a leaflet Business Rates Advicecontaining advice on combating 'cowboy' rating advisers.
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