Business Rates (also known as National Non-Domestic Rates) are a tax on business properties. The tax is set by the government and business rates collected by local authorities are the way that those who occupy non-domestic property contribute towards the cost of local services. Under the business rates retention arrangements authorities keep a proportion of the business rates paid locally. The money is used to help pay for the services Dudley Council provides.
Business rates are calculated based on a property's '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 2021. The rateable value of non-domestic property is fixed in most cases by an independent Valuation Officer of theValuation Office Agency. You can search the list for your rateable value on theValuation Office Agency'swebsite.
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 Dudley Council Plus, Castle Street, Dudley and at theValuation Office Agency, 2 Broadway Broad Street, Birmingham, B15 1BG. 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.
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.
The Valuation Office Agency allocates all non-domestic (business) properties with rateable values so authorities can calculate the Business rate charges. The 2023 revaluation takes effect from 1st April 2023 and all properties will have their rateable value assessed on the valuation date of 1st April 2021. The purpose of 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. To phase-in the effects of such changes, under Government legislation, transitional arrangements limit the amount by which business rates can increase or decrease from one financial year to the next.
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 Advice containing advice on combating 'cowboy' rating advisers.
