Small business rate relief

If you have a small business you may be able to get relief from paying business rates.

From 1st April 2017 the thresholds for Small Business Rate Relief are:

Small business can get the following relief:
Rateable valueRelief
£12,000 and below 100% - you do not need to pay business rates
£12,001 to £15,000 Relief goes down gradually from 100% at £12,000 to 0% at £15,000
£15,001 to £50,999 Uses the lower small business multiplier (external link)

Who qualifies? 

  1. Ratepayers who occupy only one property in England and the rateable value is less than £15,000 see above table.
  2. Ratepayers who occupy more than one property in England and the combined rateable value is less than £20,000 (£28,000 within London) and only one property has a rateable value greater than £2,899.
  3. When you get a second property, you’ll keep getting any existing relief on your main property for 12 months.

You can still get small business rate relief on your main property after this if both the following apply:

  • None of your other properties have a rateable value above £2,900
  • The total rateable value of all your properties is less than £20,000 (£28,000 in London)

If the rateable value of a property is altered and the property subsequently meets with the small business rate relief criteria, an application for such relief can be submitted up to six months after the date of notification of the alteration.

If your circumstances change

Report changes to make sure you’re paying the right amount and do not get a backdated increase in your bill or overpay.

  • Your property becomes empty
  • You get another property
  • You make any changes to your property that would increase its value - for example, extending or renovating it
  • The nature of your business changes or it moves to different premises.

The amount of small business rate relief you’re eligible for may change. For example, it may decrease if the rateable value of your property has increased.

You’ll usually need to pay your new rate starting from the day your circumstances changed.

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