Shropshire Council

New business rate discretionary relief scheme 2017-18

  • Period: 13 September 2017 - 27 September 2017
  • Status: Closed
  • Audiences: Everyone
  • Topics: Business and economy
  • Type: Public

Please take a look at the following background information regarding the above before giving us your feedback on the proposals.

Shropshire Council grant funding amount

We've been allocated the following share of the fund over a four year period in order to provide additional discretionary relief to businesses adversely affected by the 2017 revaluation:

  Amount of discretionary pot allocated
Year 2017/18 2018/19 2019/20 2020/21
Our allocation £1,308,000 £635,000 £262,000 £37,000

Central government have made it clear that they will only fund local authorities up to the agreed grant share levels detailed above. The grant funding was based on businesses with at least a 12.5% increase in their rateable value where the rateable value was less than £200,000.

Basic principles for new discretionary relief scheme

Relief won't apply to businesses with rateable value of £15,000 or less as eligible small businesses will be covered by small business rate relief. With effect from 1 April 2017 eligible small businesses with RV of £12,000 or less will receive 100% small business rate relief, reducing on a sliding scale for eligible businesses with RV between £12,000 and £15,000. Relief will only be provided to occupied properties. Relief will end when a property becomes unoccupied.

New occupiers of properties won't receive relief, as relief is to protect ratepayers from large RV increases from the revaluation. New occupiers won't have been affected by the revaluation

Relief won't be awarded to national businesses. Notification to ratepayers will confirm the state aid limit, confirming that a business mustn't receive more than 200,000 euros state aid in a three-year period.

Charities already receive a minimum 80% mandatory rate relief and as such will be excluded from new discretionary rate relief.

Properties where the RV increases after 1 April 2017 won't receive relief as any revaluation after 1 April 2017 will be as a result of a material change, and not the revaluation. Any such business that qualifies for new discretionary relief will receive apportioned relief from 1 April 2017 up until the date of the material change.

Any RV increases with effect from 1 April 2017 should have a zero impact on the award of relief as transitional relief will adjust to compensate for the increase.

Any business that qualifies for new discretionary rate relief that has a reduction in RV with effect from 1 April 2017 will have new discretionary rate relief reduced accordingly, potentially to zero depending on the level of RV reduction.

Ratepayers who lost their entitlement to small business rate relief following the revaluation, and who will have their increases in bills limited to £600 in 2017-18, will be excluded from receiving additional relief under this scheme.

New discretionary relief will only be awarded after all other reliefs have been awarded.

Working within these parameters, we've identified 1129 businesses with a rateable value between £15,000 and £200,000 that have seen an increase in their net rates (after all other reliefs including transitional relief have been taken into account). The total increase for these businesses is estimated at £1,489 million. 

A letter will be sent to businesses identified above with an amended business rates bill explaining the discretionary scheme and advising businesses that if they don't wish to apply for the relief they should advise us within 14 days of receipt of the letter. If businesses don't advise us that they don't wish to apply for the relief, we'll assume that they wish to apply.

For full details of the scheme take a look at the report that was agreed by cabinet on 6 September 2017.

 

If you wish to comment on our proposed discretionary relief scheme please email business.rates@shropshire.gov.uk

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