Business rates cash flow improvement
March 20, 2014
Ratepayers can now request rate bills to be paid over 12 instalments, rather than the usual 10
The Government have recently confirmed a change in the rules covering the payment of business rates that was initially announced in last year's Autumn Statement. The change in rules means that businesses in England can now choose to pay their business rates bill spread evenly over 12 instalments instead of the usual 10.
What do I have to do to benefit from this change?
Nothing more than send a letter to your billing authority. But you only have a month to act to benefit from the change - the deadline is 15 April.
If a business submits a notice indicating that it wishes to pay its business rates bills by 12-monthly instalments to the billing authority in time for it to issue (or reissue) a demand notice by, or on, 15 April, then the billing authority will be required to allow the business to pay by 12 monthly instalments throughout the 2014-15 financial year.
If the demand notice is issued after 15 April, then the number of instalments will be the number of full months remaining in the year.
Once a business has submitted a request for monthly instalments, they do not need to reapply in future years - the arrangement for 12 monthly instalments will carry forward into future years unless the business requests an alternative approach.
You can find more information by going to Business Rates Instalment Scheme or, for a more in-depth discussion on the pressures you or your clients may be facing, please get in touch with me, or your local PwC contact.
Rob Lewis - 0207 213 8550, or [email protected]