Overview of the Act
This Act implements a number of changes to the system of non-domestic rates (known as business rates) in England and Wales. The majority of the provisions for England give effect to conclusions of the government’s Business Rates Review which covered the rating system in England. The Welsh Government has requested that a number of measures be applied to Wales. The general approach in the commentary that follows is to state explicitly where a measure relates to England only rather than England and Wales. The key measures in the Act include:
Shortening the business rates revaluation cycle in England from five years to three years.
In support of a more frequent revaluation cycle, new duties to require ratepayers to provide the Valuation Office Agency (VOA) with information about themselves, their hereditament (the property or part of the property which is liable for business rates), and their business, underpinned by a new compliance regime.
New reliefs for improvements to hereditaments and for heat networks with their own business rates bill.
New data gateways to enable the Valuation Office Agency to share certain valuation information with (i) rating officials in Northern Ireland and (ii) ratepayers in England.
Tightening of the scope of Material Change of Circumstances provisions in England such that legislation, licensing regimes and guidance from public bodies should not be grounds for a change in rateable value between revaluations.
A new duty on ratepayers to provide a taxpayer reference number (such as a self-assessment or corporation tax unique taxpayer reference) to His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC), underpinned by a new compliance regime.
Administrative improvements relating to the multipliers, the central rating list, completion notices in England, the accounting of business rates retention in England, and the removal of restrictions on local authorities making retrospective awards of discretionary relief in England.