• The local District Valuer assesses the Rateable Value (RV) of each commercial/industrial property i.e. all non domestic property.
  
  
  
• To this RV is applied the Uniform Business Rate (UBR) which then gives the business rates liablity for each year. In England, the standard UBR for the year commencing April 2009 is 48.5 pence in the £ and for Rateable Values of less than £15,000 this reduces to 48.1 pence.
  
  
  
• If the RV is considered excessive or inaccurate then it can be appealed. The right result is usually achieved by negotiation but in some cases disputes are referred to a Rating Tribunal
  
  
  
• Small Business Rate Relief: This gives a sliding scale of concessions to businesses with Rateable Values of up to £15,000 (outside London). Detailed information is available from the Valuation Office Agency website:- www.voa.gov.uk
• Empty Business Rates: Since 1 April 2008, empty business premises only have exemption from business rates for the first three months they are empty. Industrial and warehousing properties now only have six months exemption. After that full business rates are normally then payable. This is a hugely contentious tax raising exercise by the present Government as rates are supposed to be a tax on occupation rather than ownership. However, a further concession is now in place for property with a Rateable Value of less than £15,000, exempting rates for the year until 31 March 2010. For a further source of information go to: www.businesslink.co.uk
  
  
• Our fees are usually performance or success related i.e. the more we save clients the greater will be our fee. Sometimes savings are significant but we do not believe giving false expectations and would only recommend appealing against a Rateable Value if we thought it worthwhile.