Have you applied for Small Business Rate Relief?

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Putney Town Centre Manager ask local businesses

Stephen Wallace pictured left is Putney's Town Centre Manager and he reminds Putney businesses that from 1 April 2005 a new rate relief scheme applies for small businesses who occupy premises with a rateable value of below £10,000. Relief is available up to a maximum of 50% of the charge. Small businesses occupying premises with rateable values from £10,000 to £21,500 do not receive relief, but do pay at a lower rate.

To qualify, the business must occupy only one property in England, or one main property plus others, provided that each additional property has a rateable value of less than £2,200 and the total rateable value of the main property plus all other properties is less than £21,500.

This relief is not automatic and ratepayers must make application to the Business Rate Service each year. To receive relief for 2005/06, application must be received by 30 September 2006.

In order to make small businesses in Wandsworth aware of this relief, full details of the scheme, and an application form, were sent to 4,000 ratepayers in February 2005.
To date, 2,500 applications have been received and 1,950 businesses are now benefiting from lower business rate bills, with a collective saving of nearly £805,000.

There are still, however, approximately 1,500 businesses that may qualify for this relief that have not as yet returned an application form.

If you have not already applied for this relief, or if you want to find out if you qualify, please contact the Business Rate Service on 020 7378 5941 or visit the website at: www.wandsworth.gov.uk/Home/CouncilandGovernment/Businessrates/smallbus.htm