Introduction

Business Rates Introduction

Business rates, or Non-Domestic Rates, collected by Local Councils are the means by which businesses and others who occupy Non-Domestic property make a contribution towards the cost of local services. Except in the City of London where special arrangements apply, the rates are pooled by Central Government and redistributed to Local Councils according to the number of people living in the area.

This money, together with revenue from Council Taxpayers and Government Grant, is used to pay for the services provided by us. Babergh works out the Business Rates bill by multiplying the rateable value of the property by the multiplier or "poundage" which the Government sets from 1 April each year for the whole of England.

The Government normally changes the multiplier every year to move in line with inflation. By law, the multiplier cannot go up by more than the rate of inflation, except in the year of a revaluation when it is set at a level which will keep the total amount raised in rates after the revaluation the same as before, plus inflation for that year.

Previous Years Multipliers
2000/01 41.6
2001/02 43.0
2002/03 43.7
2003/04 44.4
2004/05 45.6
2005/06 Standard 42.2 Small Business 41.5
2006/07 Standard 43.3 Small Business 42.6
2007/08 Standard 44.4 Small Business 44.1

For the 2008/09 year there are two multipliers: The standard multiplier is 46.2p and the Small Business Rates Multiplier is 45.8p.

The small multiplier is used when the ratepayer has made a successful application under the Small Business Rate Relief Scheme. All other ratepayer are subject to the standard multiplier.

More details about all aspects of business rates are available on the official government website here. www.businesslink.gov.uk