Member Article

Could Rating Appeals Backdating be Re-Opened?

With all of the fuss over the recent Business Rates Appeal deadline, alternative ways to backdate business rates have been overlooked, say rating experts.

Up to the 31st March this year, businesses appealing their rates had the ability to backdate any repayments to 2010. This will result in many thousands of pounds being returned to companies across England and Wales. However, on April the First new legislation came into force which removed the option to backdate refunds before 2015.

“But that’s not the end of the story,” says Paul Giness of The Beattie Partnership, one of the UK’s leading experts on business rate appeals. Paul commented: “There are still ways to recover some of this lost tax. Alterations to the Ratings List, challenging a Valuation Office Notice or identifying a relevant Tribunal Decision, for example, could see doors to backdated refunds opened again.”

Rating experts are advising companies to look into whether, by doing so, they may find that their rates can be backdated to 2010 or to a time when their property was first built, if later. But the possibility of backdating rests on timing, and that time is running out.

“You have Six months to challenge a Valuation Office Notice,” continues Paul. “If you received one in February you have until August to challenge it. If you’re successful, the saving is backdated to the Effective Date of the Alteration, which maybe before the April deadline. Tribunal Decisions prior to the end of March must also be challenged within six months.”

“If your business is struggling with paying business rates, or you think that the rates you pay are unfair, it’s worth talking to an expert about your options. You may just find that you’re owed more in repayments than you thought.

The Beattie Partnership can be contacted at www.bepart.co.uk

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by David Lomas .