450,000 small businesses failing to claim up to £2,500 in rate relief

Are you one of the 450,000 small businesses that is yet to apply for Small Business Rate Relief (SBRR)? If so, you could be missing out on a rate reduction of up to £2,500.

A new survey by the Local Government Association has revealed that less than half of the 870,000 small businesses across England that could qualify for the scheme have so far applied for it. These businesses are potentially missing out on rate relief of up to £2,500 this year.

With relief worth around £400million left unclaimed in England, council leaders have issued an urgent plea to businesses across the country to come forward and claim the money they are entitled to.

Chairman of the Local Government Association, Sir Sandy Bruce-Lockhart, said, “Small businesses up and down the country are facing immense difficulties keeping their heads above water. Hundreds of millions of pounds is sitting around waiting to be claimed by hard pressed bosses of small firms.

“Many thousands of businesses are entitled to a tax rebate and they have nothing to lose by contacting their local council as they could see their rates bill slashed by half.”

The Small Business Rate Relief Scheme gives eligible businesses with rateable values of below £5,000, rate relief of 50%. This relief decreases on a sliding scale by an estimated 1% for every £100 of rateable value from £5,000 to £10,000.

The relief is available to ratepayers with either; one property, or one main property and other additional properties, providing the additional properties do not have individual rateable values of more than £2,200, and the combined rateable value of all the properties is under £15,000 (or £21,500 in London).

As with any Government scheme, it's not straightforward. If you think that you may be eligible for small business rate relief you should get in touch with your local council urgently. They will be able to tell you whether you qualify, and will calculate the exact amount of relief you are eligible for.

The last date for applications for this financial year will be 30 September 2006 so the clock is ticking!

The SBRR scheme has been very poorly publicised by the Government and local authorities to date and they must make more of an effort to raise the level of awareness among small businesses before the September deadline.

You can find out more about business rates and the SBRR scheme at
http://www.mybusinessrates.gov.uk and you can find the contact details for your local council office on this page of their site.