Business Rate Rant!

KateCB · Mar 12, 2009

We received our business rates bill today for the coming year - it is £35 a year more than I can afford to take in salary......

Now what really annoys me about our business rates is that I see no benefit..

1. We have no street lighting around our offices/warehouse
2. We have no bin/rubbish collection (thats another £400 a year)
3. We have no street/road repairs as it is a new esate
4. We had no gritting of our entry roads last month an three cars were badly damaged trying to get into and no grit bin

We are one of 60 units....our council is making £300,000 PER MONTH from our estate.......surely fire, police and ambulance don't cost our 60 units this much?

In this economic climate you would think that there would be help at hand to continue trading ad employing local people - with the bills at this level feel like selling up.....if there was a buyer with cash they could have the lot -building included!

We get the small business rate - big deal - saves us 1p per £1000 valuation as opposed to the standard business rate

You got yours yet?

The Pines · Mar 12, 2009

KateCB said:
surely fire, police and ambulance don't cost our 60 units this much?

You're only paying a small percentage for those services. The overwhelming amount is to the Council.

KateCB said:
In this economic climate

That means sweet FA to the pen pushers at town hall. They need your money to keep their pension pots healthy, and to keep those local government quangos stuffed full of cash

Mar 12, 2009

same here kate and i suposse lots of us guys renting units get nothing for our rates

tony84 · Mar 12, 2009

£300k a month, you could afford your own police/ambulance/fire brigade lol

If its a new building are the rates not estimated?
If its estimated can you not contest them?

I know a place that had been empty for 5 years, because of that the rates were next to nothing.

Onehourpa · Mar 12, 2009

That's a lot of money. Can you not question it? I know that companies frequently challenge the rateable value of their premises, in fact a company that I previously worked at did this when we had just moved to new offices. I think they saved a couple of grand a a year. I'm not sure of the ins and outs of it, but it might be worth having a look into. I think the agent that my previous employer used to do this for them worked on the equivalent of a no win no fee basis. There are plenty of them about.

If you do a bit of research try Business Link first where they have a load of info on business rates and how they're calculated and then perhaps somewhere like the Federation of Small Business (www.fsb.org.uk) or just google "challenging business rates" and see what comes up. You never know what you might find out!

Intel Clarke · Mar 12, 2009

There is no quick explanation - the public sector is what it is, and will continue to be so in the short/medium term.

The charge is cost of running your business.

You can't change what the Business rates are. Not strictly true as you can appeal but the difference will will not make the difference between a success and a failure.

Focus on your business and what you can change to maximise your opportunities in this economic backdrop.

Esk247 · Mar 13, 2009

you're not the only one!!!

but alas..short of taking on the council single handedly its best just to get on with business and try to cover all your costs as well as you can.

loub · Mar 13, 2009

I had a visit from my local council today to measure my shop to recalculate rateable value. They took great pleasure in informing me that this is because a shop on the same street had challenged their rates and lost and the council felt if anything their rates was too low. The end result is that the entire street will be re-evaluated and rates will go up !!

Alison Jones · Mar 13, 2009

We get small business relief 50% discount.

As we had taken over a commercial premises that the use of had drastically changed they sent someone from the valuation office who took measurements, and drew floor plans, it stayed the same as previous tenant in the rateable value.

Kate, are you not entitled to the 50% small business relief?

Alison

An Oasis · Mar 13, 2009

Esk247 said:
short of taking on the council single handedly its best just to get on with business and try to cover all your costs as well as you can.

How do you know your rates are correct? If you have any queries concerning your rateable value or you wish to appeal because you consider it is wrong you should contact your valuation office. The same applies if you feel you are being overcharged.

TotallySport · Mar 13, 2009

I have no idea how big your business is, but I think your rubbish collection is very high as wel, might be worth shopping around or looking ways to reduce your rubbish, we don't pay half of that for rubbish and cardboard put together.

MikeD08 · Mar 13, 2009

I used to work for a commercial surveyors a few years ago - don't believe all the bad press the industry gets!

I worked for Coupers Partnership - 01625 500120 - give them a call, they may be able to help. They work on a no-win, no fee basis with no deposit or upfront payments required. They ask that any financial benefits of a successful reduction are split 50/50 and thats it.

Gosh, that sounds spammy!

KateCB · Mar 14, 2009

Sadly our rates are correct- we are not entitled to 50% relief as we have 3000sqft....we did appeal 3 years ago and got them reduced by £1000 pa - for the whole estate....it was a major cou as it was the largest reduction on record for our area. Still gets to me though- I agree we could buy our own private fire, police and ambulance for the monthly hand out the council gets! - AND grit the road, sweep the streets, cut the grass (Never been done in 5 years!) and provide a street light too!

KateCB · Mar 14, 2009

Rubbish collection - our council charge £400.00 per year for a large bin and emptying once a week......we could have a wheelie bin for only a £100......:0

Julian · Mar 14, 2009

KateCB said:
We are one of 60 units....our council is making £300,000 PER MONTH from our estate.......

Eeek! I have no concept of what business rates cost, I'm at least a year away from needing premises, but that shocked me. Am I correct in deducing from the above that your business rates are approximately £5,000 a month = £60,000 a year? What size are the units?

- Julian

SillyJokes · Mar 14, 2009

Business rates - a stealth tax. The general public aren't really interested as they don't seem to cost them directly. The government can whack them up with impunity.

Julian · Mar 14, 2009

Julian said:
Eeek! I have no concept of what business rates cost, I'm at least a year away from needing premises, but that shocked me. Am I correct in deducing from the above that your business rates are approximately £5,000 a month = £60,000 a year? What size are the units?

- Julian

I can't work out how to edit my previous message so please ignore my question re the unit size, I just saw you already said that in an earlier post.

- Julian

KidsBeeHappy · Mar 14, 2009

Vote in a hung parliament.
Talk to the tories!

We have a lovely leaflet through our door telling us how the scottish tories had "secured" free business rates for small businesses.

ian_w · Mar 24, 2009

I couldn't believe it when I saw the amount the 'small business rate relief' was. Because our unit is rated at £12,000 we're above the £10k limit to be eligible for a percentage reduction so the multiplier gives a whopping deduction of £48.00 for the year, or 0.8% on a £5820 bill.

I struggle to see the logic in defining a small business by the rateable value on the property they require. We build motorcycles, we need space. A large unit doesn't reflect our turnover which is only £100k a year generated by solely myself and my partner. Take out the additional running costs of a large unit (heating, plus the water bill is based on square footage too!) and a 0.8% discount is frankly a slap in the face rather than a helping hand.

I've written to my MP, for all the good it will do.

Anyway, good to get that off my chest! Rant over.

easiprint · Mar 24, 2009

Business rates are the biggest rip-off under the sun. They charge a small fortune and supply absolutely nothing for it. It will never change tho.

apeebles · Mar 24, 2009

I know how everyone feels. We also have to pay a BID (Business Improvement District) charge which adds another £350 to our £10K bill. With the extra money they provide some more PCSO's and clean chewing gum and graffiti. For some reason I thought that this was already provided.

I think the councils should steal the famous phrase 'Every little helps'!

i234i · Mar 24, 2009

Are you serious you are paying £60,000 for you units worth of Rates Kate?
That is unreal.

I thought mine were high for the area and what it is (no lights, road grit, pot holes fixed!)

Wow!

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Business Rate Rant!

KateCB

The Pines

tony84

Onehourpa

Intel Clarke

Esk247

loub

Alison Jones

An Oasis

TotallySport

MikeD08

KateCB

KateCB

Julian

SillyJokes

Julian

KidsBeeHappy

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easiprint

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