Business rates

Tamworth Borough Council collects Business Rates - or National Non-Domestic Rates (NNDR) on behalf of the government.

For 2024-2025, business rates are set at a fixed national rate of 54.6p in the pound and 49.9 in the pound for businesses with a rateable value under 51,000.

Under the business rates retention arrangements, Local Authorities and their Preceptors keep 50 per cent of that income to pay for local services.

Business rates are usually paid by occupiers of non-domestic properties. Often this will also be the owner or leaseholder of the property itself.

Useful links

Non-domestic properties

Any property that isn’t solely intended to be used as a residence will be liable for business rates. This includes shops, offices, factories and warehouses. Holiday homes available for commercial letting for 140 days per year or more will also be charged. If you offer Bed & Breakfast to six people or less within your home, you will not have to pay business rates.

Rules relating to self-catering accommodation are updated on April 1, 2023. Visit the government website here for more information on the changes to self-catering properties.

Calculating business rates and rateable value

Business rates are worked out by multiplying the rateable value of your property by a figure that is set by government – called the ‘national non-domestic rating multiplier’.

All non-domestic properties have a rateable value which broadly represents the annual rent that property could have let for on the open market and is regularly updated by way of revaluation. This was done in 2021 for the 2023-24 tax year.

This rateable value is usually fixed by an independent officer of the Valuation Office Agency. You can find your business’s future rateable value here, based on the 2023 revaluation.

Appealing a rateable value

If you think the rateable value is wrong, or the circumstances of the property have changed since then, you might be able to appeal the rateable value with the Value Office Agency.

Please note, business rates still need to be paid at the current rate while an appeal is being dealt with. The council can take legal action to recover unpaid rates if necessary.

Appeals can be made free of charge, but ratepayers who would like to represented should check the credentials of any ratings advisor they might be thinking of appointing. They should also have the appropriate indemnity insurance.

Members of RICS and IRRV are qualified and regulated for this purpose.

Your business information

The information you give us is used and held in accordance with the Local Government Finance Act 1988, and the principles of the Data Protection Act 1998. Requests made under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 may ask for general information regarding limited companies and PLCs which we will supply as they are not covered by the Data Protection Act.

We have a duty to protect public funds and we may use business rates data in cross system and cross comparison checks to ensure our records are correct. We may also disclose relevant information to other council departments where it is necessary and lawful to do so. We may also share information with other bodies responsible for auditing or administering public funds.

For help with your business rates, please call us on 01827 709530, or email: businessrates@tamworth.gov.uk.