Business Rates Deferral Scheme 2009-10
2nd Apr 2009
The Government announced on the 31st March that it will bring forward regulations to enable businesses to defer payment of 60% of the increase in their 2009-10 business rate bills until 2010-11 and 2011-12.
Businesses must keep paying their legally established liability as set out on their current bills.
Once the regulations are in place - which is expected by the end of July - local authorities will write to rate payers, offering them the option of deferring part of the increase. This is likely to be in the summer. There is no need for businesses to contact anyone at this stage.
The new bills will give the benefit of deferral based on the total increase in the 09/10 bill.
For 2010/11 and 2011/12 bills, local authorities will add the deferred amounts.
The effect is to provide a smoother profile of business rates payments over the next three years. RPI is widely forecast to be negative later this year, which would have a downward pressure on 2010/11 bills. This scheme offers businesses the chance to pay a lower increase in 2009/10, and make up the payment in the following two years.
There is no statutory obligation to defer payment and all companies have to do if they do want to defer is reply to the council once written to in July.
An example of how much the average business will benefit is that on a rates bill for a fairly typical property seeing a £600 rise in its 2009/10 liability, would be able to defer £360 of that increase to future years.
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