Business rates – how we calculate your bill

We work out your business rates bill by multiplying the rateable value of the property by:

• the standard non-domestic rating multiplier – 0.512

• and the small business non-domestic rating multiplier – 0.499

National non-domestic rating multiplier

The Government sets these multipliers for each financial year for the whole of England and normally changes both multipliers every year in line with inflation.

By law, these multipliers cannot go up by more than the rate of inflation (apart from some minor adjustments to counteract losses from appeals and, in relation to the standard multiplier, to pay for small business rate relief).

Rateable value

Apart from properties that are exempt from business rates, each non-domestic property has a rateable value which is set by the valuation officers of the Valuation Office Agency (VOA), an Agency of Her Majesty's Revenues and Customs. It draws up and maintains a full list of all rateable values, which are available on their website.

The rateable value of your property will be shown on the front of your bill. This broadly represents the yearly rent the property could have been let for on the open market on a particular date. The valuation officer may alter the value if the circumstances of the property have changed.

Appeals

The ratepayer (and certain others who have an interest in the property) can also appeal against the value shown in the list if they believe it is wrong. Further information about making appeals can be found on the VOA website or from the local valuation office shown below.

Successful appeals against values shown in the rating list that came into force on 1 April 2010 will normally be backdated to that date, although there are exceptions to this.​