Business Rates Liability
The person who is normally liable to pay Business Rates is the person "entitled to possession" or occupation of business premises. These will usually be either the owner if he/she is the occupier of the premises or the leaseholder.
In general, there are currently no Business Rates to pay in the first 3 months that a property is empty. This is extended to six months in the case of certain industrial properties. After that rates are payable in full unless the property is exempt from unoccupied rates. Exemptions include listed buildings, and small properties with rateable values below a certain threshold.
These thresholds are:
|
Year |
Rateable Value Threshold |
|
2008/09 |
£2,200 |
|
2009/10 |
£15,000 |
|
2010/11 |
£18,000 |
| 2011/12 (to 2015) | £2,600 |
In rating law, occupation of part of the property is, in most cases, deemed to be occupation of the whole of the property.
For more details of exemptions and reliefs go to the Non Domestic Rate Exemptions and Reliefs page.
Page updated: 25 Mar 2011
.