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On 1st April 2000 a general rating revaluation of non-domestic property will take place, based on the levels of rents passing in the open market on 1st April 1998.
The Valuation Office, which is responsible for conducting the revaluation, will again be flooding the country with forms requiring the disclosure of information on the rents being paid in respect of shops, offices, factories and warehouses; and business turnover for public houses. It is anticipated these forms will begin to arrive in July.
The return forms are not straightforward to complete and pose a number of questions which may be difficult to answer without considerable research and effort.
As the information collected is used by the Valuation Office as evidence, it is consequently very important that the forms are completed accurately. This is particularly relevant where, for example, the rent has not been increased at the last review, or fitting out has been undertaken at considerable expense. In practice only a small proportion of these costs can be deemed to be rateable and therefore relevant.
Following the past two revaluations, in 1990 and 1995, transitional relief, (or phasing) was incorporated in rate bills to reduce the impact of large increases or decreases in assessments. At this stage it is not known definitely whether such measures will be carried forward to the millennium, but all the indications are that they will.
In a recent consultation document produced by the Department of the Environment, mention has been made of a proposal to allow local authorities the opportunity of levying a local rate poundage, in addition to the nationally fixed uniform business rate. If carried through this is unlikely to exceed one or two pence in the pound, but may vary significantly from one authority area to another. Again, the Government has not yet decided whether to adopt this approach.
We will publish further information on these issues as soon as it becomes known.
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