Extension of English Small Business Rate Relief to March 2017
Small Business rate relief applies to a small business if the business only uses one property and the property’s rateable value is less than £12,000.00.
The law provides that a company will receive 100% relief until the 31st March 2016 for properties with a rateable value of £6,000.00 or less which means a business will not pay business rates on properties with a rateable value of £6,000.00 or less. However, for properties with a rateable value of £6,001.00-£12,000.00, the rate of relief will gradually decrease from 100% to 0%.
The government introduced the Non-Domestic Rating (Small Business Rate Relief) (England) (Amendment) Order 2016 which comes into force on 1 April 2016. The Order makes provision for a continued temporary increase in the level of small business rate relief beginning on 1st April 2016 and ending on 31st March 2017. The Order extends the period of time in which small businesses can benefit from the temporary doubling of the level of small business rate relief as set out in the Non-Domestic Rating (Small Business Rate Relief) (England) Order 2012. Without the Order, the increased relief would have ended on 31 March 2016.
The Order applies to England only, but there has been a similar extension of small business rate relief in Wales.