Retail Relief – England
You could be eligible for retail relief if your business:
- is a shop, restaurant, café, bar or pub
- is in England
- has a rateable value of less than £51,000
If you meet this criteria you could receive 1/3 off your business rates bill and this is applied after any other business rates relief you are eligible for has been applied to your bill. The relief is available for 2019-20 and 2020-21 rating years and your rateable value must remain under £51,000 for the relief to continue to be applied to your rates.
Eligible Properties
You may be eligible for the relief if your property is used wholly or mainly as one of the following :
- Shops (e.g florists, bakers, butchers, grocers, greengrocers, jewellers, stationers, off licences, chemists, newsagents, hardware stores, supermarkets)
- Charity Shops
- Opticians
- Post Offices
- Furnishing Shops / display rooms (e.g carpet shops, double glazing, garage doors)
- Car & Caravan show rooms
- Second hand car lots
- Markets
- Petrol stations
- Garden Centres
- Art Galleries (where art is for sale and/or hire)
- Hair and beauty services (e.g hairdressers, nail bars, beauty salons, tanning shops)
- Shoe Repairs / key cutting
- Travel agents
- Ticket offices
- Dry Cleaners
- Laundrettes
- PC/ TV / domestic appliance repairs
- Funeral directors
- Tool hire
- Car hire
- Restaurants
- Takeaways
- Sandwich shops
- Coffee shops
- Pubs
- Bars
The relief is also subject to State Aid De Minimis Limits. As providing this relief is likely to amount to State Aid it is not possible to receive more than €200,000 of De Minimis aid over a three year period. You must therefore check that applying for this relief over multiple properties, or if you already receive any State Aid you are not breaching this limit for the two rating years the relief is applicable for.
The impact of Brexit on this relief :
If the UK leave the EU without an agreement in place, the Government has announced it’s intention to transpose EU State Aid rules into UK domestic legislation so local councils will continue to apply State Aid rules, including De Minimis to the relief for the years it is applicable.
Retail Relief – Wales
The Welsh Government will grant relief for the 2019-20 rating year, ending on the 31st March 2020 if :
- is a shop, restaurant, café, bar or pub
- is in Wales
- has a rateable value of less than £50,000
If you meet this criteria you could receive up to £2,500 off your business rate bill. The relief is applied after any other business rates relief you are eligible for has been applied to your bill.
Eligible Properties
You may be eligible for the relief if your property is used wholly or mainly as one of the following :
- Shops (e.g florists, bakers, butchers, grocers, greengrocers, jewellers, stationers, off licences, chemists, newsagents, hardware stores, supermarkets)
- Opticians
- Post Offices
- Pharmacies
- Furnishing Shops / display rooms (e.g carpet shops, double glazing, garage doors)
- Car & Caravan show rooms
- Second hand car lots
- Markets
- Petrol stations
- Garden Centres
- Art Galleries (where art is for sale and/or hire)
- Hair and beauty services (e.g hairdressers, nail bars, beauty salons, tanning shops)
- Shoe Repairs / key cutting
- Travel agents
- Ticket offices
- Dry Cleaners
- Laundrettes
- PC/ TV / domestic appliance repairs
- Funeral directors
- Photo Processing
- DVD / Video rentals
- Tool hire
- Car hire
- Cinemas
- Estate and Letting agents
- Restaurants
- Takeaways
- Drive-through or drive-in restaurants
- Sandwich shops
- Coffee shops / cafe
- Pubs
- Wine bars
- Bars
To qualify for the relief the property needs to be used wholly or mainly as one of the criteria listed above as the relief if granted based on useage rather than occupation.
The application of the relief is discretionary so your local council may decide not to grant the relief if they consider that by granting the relief the local authorities wider objectives for the local area would be negatively impacted.
The relief is also subject to State Aid De Minimis Limits. As providing this relief is likely to amount to State Aid it is not possible to receive more than €200,000 of De Minimis aid over a three year period. You must therefore check that applying for this relief over multiple properties, or if you already receive any State Aid you are not breaching this limit for the two rating years the relief is applicable for.