Business Rates is the everyday name given to what is properly called National Non-Domestic Rates, and is a tax on non-domestic properties.  It is the way local businesses and occupiers of other non domestic properties make a contribution towards the cost of local services.

Please note that Trade Waste services are not provided through Business Rates and are a separate chargeable service.

The amount of the tax is set by the Government and collected by Fylde Borough Council.  The rates collected locally are then divided between the Government and Fylde Borough Council.

Business Rates are calculated by applying a ‘multiplier’, which is set by the Government each year, to a rating assessment.  There are two multipliers: the standard non-domestic rating multiplier and the small business non-domestic rating multiplier.

2023-24 Multipliers

  • the small business non-domestic multiplier is 49.9p
  • the standard non-domestic multiplier is 51.2p

Pay Over 12 Months Instead of the Usual 10

Payment of Business Rates is automatically set on a 10-monthly instalment schedule.  Businesses have the option to pay their Business Rates over 12 months, rather than 10 (the number of instalments that you can have will depend upon when you begin making payments.  This is because the year’s balance must be paid within the financial year, i.e. by 31 March).

If you would like to pay over 12 months, please email fylderevenues@blackpool.gov.uk quoting your Business Rates account number.

Online account

See your outstanding balance and how your business rates bill has been calculated. You can also:
» Check the payments you have made and when any future payments are due
» Set up or amend a direct debit
» View or print your current and previous bills and correspondence
You only need to register once.
www.fylde.gov.uk/Advantage is available 24/7, so you can see the latest information and check the progress of any changes you have told us about.

Non-Domestic Rates

Non-Domestic Rates, or business rates, collected by local authorities are the way that those who occupy non-domestic property contribute towards the cost of local services. Under the business rates retention arrangements introduced from 1st April 2013, authorities keep a proportion of the business rates paid locally. The money, together with revenue from council tax payers, locally generated income and grants from central government, is used to pay for the services provided by local authorities in your area. Further information about the business rates system may be obtained at: www.gov.uk/introduction-to-business-rates, at the website of your local authority which is normally shown on your rates bill, or by contacting your local authority.

Business Rates Instalments

Payment of business rates bills is automatically set on a 10-monthly cycle. However, the Government has put in place regulations that allow ratepayers to require their local authority to enable payments to be made through 12 monthly instalments. If you wish to take up this offer, you should contact your fylderevenues@blackpool.gov.uk as soon as possible.

Transitional Relief for Business Rates

Transitional relief is a Government scheme which ensures that large increases or large decreases in rates bills which are due to the revaluation are phased in gradually over a number of years.

At each revaluation, a transitional scheme is introduced to protect the ratepayer from sharp increases in their rates bill. This is because property values, which affect the rental potential of the property and therefore the rateable value on which rate bills are calculated, change a good deal between each revaluation. Transitional relief is designed to ease the impact of revaluation, by phasing in the changes to the rates bill over a period of time. This helps pay for the limits on increases in bills after a revaluation.
Under the 2023 transitional relief scheme, limits will apply to yearly increases until 31 March 2026.

The transitional arrangements apply only to the bill based on your property at the time of the revaluation. If there are any changes to the rateable value of the property (e.g. because an extension has been added) after the revaluation date, transitional arrangements will not normally apply to the part of your bill that applies to any increase or decrease in rateable value due to those changes.

National Non-Domestic Rating Multiplier

Fylde Council works out the business rates bill for a property by multiplying the rateable value of the property by the appropriate non-domestic multiplier. There are two multipliers: the national non-domestic rating multiplier and the small business non-domestic rating multiplier. The Government sets the multipliers for each financial year.   

Ratepayers who occupy a property with a rateable value which does not exceed £50,999 (and who are not entitled to certain other mandatory relief[s] or are liable for unoccupied property rates) will have their bills calculated using the lower small business non-domestic rating multiplier, rather than the national non-domestic rating multiplier.  

The multiplier for a financial year is based on the previous year’s multiplier adjusted to reflect the Consumer Price Index (CPI) inflation figure for the September prior to the billing year.  

The current multipliers are shown in the calculation box on the reverse of your bill 

Rateable Value

Apart from properties that are exempt from business rates, each non-domestic property has a rateable value which is set by the Valuation Office Agency (VOA), an agency of Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs. They compile and maintain a full list of all rateable values, available at https://www.gov.uk/correct-your-business-rates.    

The rateable value of your property is shown on the front of your bill. This broadly represents the yearly rent the property could have been let for on the open market on a particular date specified in legislation. For the current rating list, this date was set as 1st April 2015.  

The Valuation Office Agency may alter the valuation if circumstances change. The ratepayer (and certain others who have an interest in the property) can also check and challenge the valuation shown in the list if they believe it is wrong.   

Further information about the grounds on which challenges may be made and the process for doing so can be found on the VOA website: www.gov.uk/guidance/how-to-check-your-rateable-value-iscorrect  

Revaluations

All non-domestic property rateable values are reassessed at revaluations. The most recent revaluation took effect from 1st April 2023. Revaluations ensure that business rates bills are up-to-date and more accurately reflect current rental values and relative changes in rents. Frequent revaluations ensure the system continues to be responsive to changing economic conditions.

Business Rate Reliefs

Depending on individual circumstances, a ratepayer may be eligible for a rate relief (i.e. a reduction in your business rates bill). There are a range of available reliefs. Some of the permanent reliefs are set out below but temporary reliefs are often introduced by the Government at Budgets.   

Details of reliefs and exemptions are listed here.   

Small Business Rates Relief

If a ratepayer’s sole or main property has a rateable value which does not exceed an amount set out in regulations, the ratepayer may receive a percentage reduction in their rates bill for this property of up to a maximum of 100%. The level of reduction will depend on the rateable value of the property – for example eligible properties below a specified lower threshold will receive 100% relief, and you may receive partial tapered relief up to a specified upper threshold.  

The relevant thresholds for relief are set out in regulations and can be obtained from https://new.fylde.gov.uk/business/business-rates/business-rate-relief-and-exemptions/.   

Generally, this percentage reduction (relief) is only available to ratepayers who occupy either—  

(a)  one property, or  

(b)  one main property and other additional properties providing those additional properties each have a rateable value which does not exceed the limit set in regulations.  

The aggregate rateable value of all the properties mentioned in (b), must also not exceed an amount set in regulations. For those businesses that take on an additional property which would normally have meant the loss of small business rate relief, they will be allowed to keep that relief for a fixed additional period. Full details on the relevant limits in relation to second properties and the current period for which a ratepayer may continue to receive relief after taking on an additional property can be obtained from https://new.fylde.gov.uk/business/business-rates/business-rate-relief-and-exemptions/.   

Certain changes in circumstances will need to be notified to the local authority by the ratepayer who is in receipt of relief (other changes will be picked up by the local authority). The changes which should be notified are—  

(a) the property falls vacant,  

(b) the ratepayer taking up occupation of an additional property, and  

(c) an increase in the rateable value of a property occupied by the ratepayer in an area other than the area of the local authority which granted the relief.  

Charity and Community Amateur Sports Club Relief

Charities and registered Community Amateur Sports Clubs are entitled to 80% relief where the property is occupied by the charity or the club and is wholly or mainly used for the charitable purposes of the charity (or of that and other charities), or for the purposes of the club (or of that and other clubs).  

Fylde Council also has discretion to give further relief on the remaining bill. Further details are available at: https://new.fylde.gov.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/Fylde-CT-and-BR-Discretionary-Discount-2018-19-v1.9.pdf 

Rate Relief for Businesses in Rural Areas

Certain types of properties in a rural settlement with a population below 3,000 may be entitled to relief. The property must be the only general store, the only post office or a food shop and have a rateable value of less than £8,500, or the only public house or the only petrol station and have a rateable value of less than £12,500. The property has to be occupied. An eligible ratepayer is entitled to relief at 100% of the full charge (50% being mandatory relief and 50% centrally funded discretionary relief). 

Unoccupied Property Rate Relief

Business rates are generally payable in respect of unoccupied non-domestic property. However, they are generally not payable for the first three months that a property is empty. This is extended to six months in the case of certain other properties (for example industrial premises or listed buildings). Full details on exemptions can be obtained from https://new.fylde.gov.uk/business/business-rates/business-rate-relief-and-exemptions/.   

Transitional Rate Relief

At a revaluation, some ratepayers will see reductions or no change in their bill whereas some ratepayers will see increases. Transitional relief schemes are introduced at each revaluation to help those facing increases. This relief has been funded by limiting the reduction in bills for those who have benefitted from the revaluation. Transitional relief is applied automatically to bills.  

Further information about transitional arrangements and other reliefs may be obtained from www.gov.uk/introduction-to-business-rates 

Local Discounts

Local authorities have a general power to grant discretionary local discounts and to give hardship relief in specific circumstances. Further details are available at: https://new.fylde.gov.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/Fylde-CT-and-BR-Discretionary-Discount-2018-19-v1.9.pdf.  

State Aid

The award of discretionary reliefs is considered likely to amount to State aid. However, it will be state aid compliant where it is provided in accordance with the De Minimis Regulations EC 1407/2013. The De Minimis Regulations allow an undertaking to receive up to EUR 200,000 ‘de minimis‘ aid over a rolling three-year period. If you are receiving, or have received, any ‘de minimis‘ aid granted during the current or two previous financial years (from any source), you should inform the local authority immediately with details of the aid received.  

Rating Advisers

Ratepayers do not have to be represented in discussions about their rateable value or their rates bill. However, ratepayers who do wish to be represented should be aware that members of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS – website www.rics.organd the Institute of Revenues, Rating and Valuation (IRRV – website www.irrv.org.ukare qualified and are regulated by rules of professional conduct designed to protect the public from misconduct. Before you employ a rating adviser or company you should check that they have the necessary knowledge and expertise, as well as appropriate indemnity insurance. Take great care and, if necessary, seek further advice before entering into any contract.  

Information Supplied with Demand Notices

Information relating to the relevant and previous financial years in regard to the gross expenditure of the local authority is available at https://new.fylde.gov.uk/council/finance/. A hard copy is available on request by writing to the council or by telephone to 01253 658658.  

Self-catering and holiday let accommodation

Whether you pay business rates will depend on how many nights your property is available to let each year and how many nights it was actually let.

The Valuation Office Agency (VOA) will work out the rateable value of your property based on its type, size, location, quality and how much income you’re likely to make from letting it.

Rules from 1 April 2023

If your property is in England, it will be rated as a self-catering property and valued for business rates if it’s both:

  • Available to let for short periods for at least 140 nights in total over the current and previous tax years
  • Actually let for at least 70 nights in the last 12 months

Improvement relief

From 2024, more information to follow regarding this. It is proposed that from 1 April 2024, businesses that have made qualifying improvements may benefit from 100% relief from higher bills for 12 months. The scheme will run until 1 April 2029.

Seasonal holiday accommodation

Self-catering accommodation such as holiday homes are liable for business rates where they are available for use by short stay guests for 140 days or more during the year, and used for 70 days or more during the year.

If you only use your property during the season, this is taken into account when the rateable value of the property is calculated. There is no extra reduction given during the winter months if you don’t open for business.

If you are not sure whether your rateable value has been calculated correctly, please contact the Valuation Office Agency.