Page 26 - PWM2025_AUGUST EBOOK

BETTER BUSINESS

Business

rates

No one likes paying taxes, nevertheless we all still
expect local services – roads, education, street
lighting, waste collection and so on – to be pro-
vided, by Adam Bernstein
A Midwinter explains that the

As to how rateable values are set,
t a local level these ser-
vices are provided by
Valuation Office Agency (VOA),
local authorities,
part of HMRC, assesses and sets the
which are funded by a
combination of cen-
rateable value for non-domestic
tral government
properties. Midwinter says that
grants, business rates and council “business rates are calculated by
tax. multiplying the rateable value by a
Looking purely at the non-domes- multiplier set by the government”.
tic regime, business rates, it’s safe to He adds that “the VOA takes into
say that they are both unpopular and account factors such as the use, loca-
expensive – not that council tax is tion and size of the property to
held in any higher esteem. And like determine its value”. Rent payable
any tax, those liable to pay them will at the property and comparable
seek out ways to reduce the burden. properties is also considered for val-
It’s worth noting that business uation purposes. And it’s easy to see why – certainly from Morrish’s perspective: rates
rates have helped push some in the are easy to collect and hard to avoid.
sector over the edge. Back in April An unpopular tax It’s worth pointing out that the last rating revaluation in England &
2019, Evolution Print went into It’s not hard to find companies Wales came into effect on 1 April 2023 and should reflect a property’s
administration partly because of ris- that are unhappy with business rates rental value as, noted earlier, at 1 April 2021. These values will be in
ing business rates. And more – either in principle or as a function effect until the next revaluation which is due to take place with effect
recently, in August 2023, of cost. For Alex Izett, a partner at from 1 April 2026.
Fisherprint went into liquidation Daniel Watney, business rates are However, and this is a given because of human nature, because ratea-
for a number of reasons including a both a tax on occupation and also – ble value is an opinion on value, Midwinter says that there may be dis-
business rates rise of 30%. which is worse – it is “often the crepancies and/or mistakes when the VOA values properties. This is why
third highest outgoing for most he says, logically, that “it is sound business advice to have a business
Overview businesses after salaries and rent”. assessment checked and audited by a business rates professional”.
In essence business rates are Alan Morrish, a chartered sur- Morrish holds a similar view and is not enamoured with how proper-
straightforward, they are all about veyor at Ameliorate Consultancy, ties are assessed – “from the desk by the VOA” which may create errors
rateable value of a property based on thinks the same and what seems to or distortions that result from “a bulk valuation exercise”. On top of this
rent and a multiplier set by govern- bother him the most is that the he says that if physical changes are made to a property then they will be
ment. charge has risen markedly. reflected in the assessment – but only if the VOA becomes aware of
Matthew Midwinter, a partner at He details that “the rate used to them.
Sanderson Weatherall, gives more calculate rate bills is far too high at
detail. He says that “in simple terms, circa 55p in the pound. In 1990 the Making a challenge
the rateable value is an assessment rate in the pound was circa 30p”. Now, just because the VOA issues a valuation doesn’t mean that it is
of the annual rent a property could He’s irritated because property val- set in stone. In fact, Izett says that ratepayers can register themselves on
command if it were available to let ues have increased substantially the ‘Check Challenge Appeal’ on the government gateway to challenge
on the open market on a set date”, since 1990 so that “rates have the accuracy and fairness of their assessment.
currently 1 April 2021. turned into another stealth tax”. Izett says that business rates can be set too high for any one of a num-

24 PrintWeek MENA August 2025 www.printweekmena.com