Peter Foley is our resident guru here at CPA, and has been passionately following the shifting world of business rates for many years. With a keen political insight, Peter’s writing reveals how policy change is key to understanding your business rates further, and how this could translate into substantial savings. In his weekly column, Peter also outlines a desired path forward, with changes we’d like to see implemented for a fairer system on the nation's business rates.
Things are looking expensive for industrial and commercial premises, this autumn, without -so far- any fiscal protection from the Treasury. Energy costs are set to soar.
How ratepayers will cope with making annual returns for every one of the two million hereditaments in local rating lists?
Considerable administrative costs are involved in providing this information, and it is vitally important, in the first place, that the amount of the tax owed is correct.
This kind of self-help is vital, since billing authorities NEVER advise their clients of over-payment, and successful claims increasingly depend on sophisticated data-matching which is often beyond the ken of the typical business.
Do not assume that your business has been correctly assessed for rates, before engaging the professional services, free of charge, of our Personal Advisors, who will keep you fully informed of the progress of your appeal at every stage of the process.
In the pursuit of lower bills, often-overlooked features such as irregular shape, can have a crucial bearing on a property's Rateable Value.
Additionally, full retail reliefs may have gone unclaimed, even though the public visit the premises in question for direct purchases.
Decisions by the Valuation Tribunal commonly reveal disputes with appellants over what constitutes retail/office/workshop areas, which can massively affect your rates bills.
Our detailed surveys often beat the desk-top calculations of the Valuation Tribunal, whose calculations may be further off course, as a result of changes in business operations wrought by the pandemic.
But don't delay: this is your last opportunity to enjoy possible rebates dating back to 2017, before the new Rating List of 2023 appears, wiping clean all historical injustices!
Probably the most persuasive evidence a formal appeal against business rates can present, is based on sound, sophisticated comparative data on similar enterprises in your area.
Comparisons with local firms (known as "Tone appeals") are proving highly lucrative for our wide variety of clients nationwide, and, if lodged without delay, can still include five-year rebates.
Without any charge to you, we're happy to place our professional expertise, and its unparalleled access to local rating data, at your disposal, in order to achieve freedom from a major business expense.
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