Retail Discount

The Government announced in the Budget on 29th October 2018 that it will provide a business rates Retail Discount scheme for occupied retail properties with a rateable value of less than £51,000 in each of the years 2019/20 and 2020/21.

The value of the discount will be one third of the bill, after other reliefs have been deducted, except for hardship or Local Discount relief, both of which are deducted last.

Relief will be awarded to certain occupied retail properties that are wholly or mainly being used as shops, restaurants, cafes and drinking establishments in each of the years. You must be using the property for retail use.

The award of this relief must comply with EU law on State Aid. There is a form which will be issued which requires you to confirm that you have not received any other State Aid that exceeds in total €200,000, including any other Retail Discount you are being granted for premises other than the one to which the declaration relates, under the De Minimis Regulations EC 1407/2013.

Please note that relief will be automatically included on your annual bill for 2019/20. However, the State Aid declaration must be returned otherwise any relief granted will be removed.

Any relief granted will end on 31 March 2021.

Business Rates - Retail Relief - Qualifying Criteria

Properties that will benefit from the relief will be occupied properties with a rateable value of £50,999 or less.

Please confirm that your premises falls into one of the categories listed below:

• Shops (such as: florist, bakers, butchers, grocers, greengrocers, jewellers, stationers, off licence, chemists, newsagents, hardware stores, supermarkets).
• Charity shops
• Opticians
• Post offices
• Furnishing shops/ display rooms (such as: carpet shops, double glazing, garage doors)
• Car/ caravan show rooms
• Second hard car lots
• Markets
• Petrol stations
• Garden centres
• Art galleries (where art is for sale/hire)
• Hair and beauty services
• Shoe repairs/ key cutting
• Travel agents
• Ticket offices e.g. for theatre
• Dry cleaners
• Launderettes
• PC/ TV/ domestic appliance repair
• Funeral directors
• Photo processing
• DVD/ video rentals
• Tool hire
• Restaurants
• Takeaways
• Sandwich shops
• Coffee shops
• Pubs
• Bars

Please note that the following types of uses are not eligible for retail relief;

i) Properties that are being used for the provision of the following services to visiting members of the public:

• Financial services (e.g. banks, building societies, cash points, bureau de change, payday lenders, betting shops, pawn brokers)
• Other services (e.g. estate agents, letting agents, employment agencies)
• Medical services (e.g. vets, doctors, osteopaths, chiropractors)
• Professional Services (e.g. solicitors, accountants, insurance agents/financial advisers, tutors)
• Post office sorting office

ii) Properties that are not reasonably accessible to visiting members of the public

Calculation of Relief

The total amount of government-funded relief available for each property under the scheme for 2019/20 and for 2020/21 is one third of the bill. There is no relief available under the scheme for properties with a rateable value of more than £51,000.

The eligibility for the relief and the relief itself will be assessed and calculated on a daily basis.

The following formula will be used to determine the amount of relief to be granted for a particular property in the financial year:

• Amount of relief to be granted = V/3
• Where V is the daily charge for the hereditament for the chargeable day after the application of any mandatory relief and other discretionary reliefs, excluding those where the local authority has used its discretionary powers introduced by the Localism Act

Ratepayers that occupy more than one property will be entitled to relief for each of their eligible properties, subject to State Aid de Minimis limits.

If you have not had relief and think you are eligible, or for further information, please contact Revenues:

• Email: ndr@stratford-dc.gov.uk
• Telephone: 01789 260993
• Fax: 01789 260969