The Act Part 2 – Administration and enforcement of non-domestic rates Section 2 – Revaluation years
9.Section 2 amends the definition of “year of revaluation” in section 37(1) of the 1975 Act so that revaluations will be carried out every three years, rather than every five years.
10.Non-domestic rates are calculated using the rateable value of a property included in the valuation roll. For most properties, the rateable value is generally based upon its estimated open market value on the “tone date”(2) were it to be vacant and to let. The rateable value requires to be reviewed periodically to reflect changes in the property market.
11.Section 1(1) of the 1975 Act requires assessors to make up a valuation roll for each year of revaluation. “Year of revaluation” is defined in section 37(1) of the 1975 Act. At the time the Bill for the Act was introduced into the Scottish Parliament, that section defined “year of revaluation” as the year 2017-18 and every fifth year thereafter. At that time, therefore, the next year of revaluation was due to be the year 2022-23. Paragraph (a) of section 2 was intended to preserve 2022-23 as a year of revaluation, while paragraph (b) provides for subsequent years of revaluation to be every third year after the previous revaluation.(3)