Business Rates

Business Rates Relief

Small Business Bonus Scheme
The Scottish Government has introduced the Small Business Bonus Scheme from 1 April 2008. This scheme replaces the Small Business Rates Relief Scheme. Businesses who use or are entitled to use properties with a combined rateable value of £15,000 or less may be entitled to a reduction in their rates bill.
 
For more details on the scheme, please visit the Scottish Government website.

Rural Rates Relief
You may be entitled to a 50% reduction on your property if it is in an area included in our rural settlement list and is:

• a general shop;
• a post office;
• a pub;
• a hotel;
• a petrol station; or
• a food shop.

If the property is a pub, a hotel or a petrol station, the rateable value must not be more than £10,500. For small food shops, general shops and post offices, the rateable value must not be more than £7000.

We may also award a 50% reduction if you have a different type of property which is still included in our settlement list. The rateable value of the property must not be more than £14,000. Also, your yearly turnover (before taking off things like tax) should not be more than £250,000, and we must be satisfied that the property is used for purposes that benefit the local community.

Disabled Relief
You may get disabled relief if:

• you provide residential accommodation to care for people who are ill;
• you provide facilities for training people who are ill; or
• you provide welfare services or workshops for disabled people.

At least half of the floor space must be used for these purposes before relief is available.

Charitable and Discretionary Relief
If your organisation is a registered charity, we must grant relief of 80%. This is known as "mandatory relief". We can then decide whether you have to pay part of or the rest of the other 20%.

We may grant relief of up to 100% to certain other organisations who, although not registered charities, were not set up to make a profit.

The Council has approved a new discretionary relief scheme from 1 April 2008 to 31 March 2013.

If you have already applied for and been awarded relief, the amount will be shown on your bill.

Our policy on who to award relief to includes the following:

• 100% relief to be granted to all clubs which are recognised as a sporting activity by the sports councils.
• 100% relief to be granted to clubs and societies or other organisations who do not have a licence to sell alcohol, are not set up for profit and are used mainly for recreational purposes.
• 80% relief to be granted to clubs or societies or other organisations who have a licence to sell alcohol, are not set up for profit and are used mainly for recreational purposes.

An extra 20% relief for organisations already receiving mandatory relief if:

• they are mainly concerned with working with people aged under 19;
• run a museum ( as described in the valuation roll) and do not charge an entry fee; or
• provide community facilities in village halls and community centres.

You will need to fill in an application form and show that you follow equal opportunities.

Unoccupied Property Rates
If your property is left empty, you will not owe any rates for the first three months. If it is still empty after three months, you will have to start paying empty property rates. Empty property rates are charged at 50%of the bill. The person or company entitled to use the property will have to pay the bill.

We do not charge empty property rates on certain properties, for example:

• industrial properties (you must fill in a short questionnaire to see if your property qualifies); and
• properties with a rateable value of less than £1700.

Before we award any reduction, we must arrange to visit the property to check it is empty.

If you receive a reduction we will review this regularly. We will also ask you to fill in an application form. By law, we must protect the money we manage. To prevent and detect fraud, we will share the information we are given with other organisations responsible for auditing or managing public funds.

Paying your Rates

Direct Debit
This is a simple, safe and convenient way to pay your Business Rates. If you want to pay by direct debit please call the Revenues Unit on 01506 776982 to set up your direct debit over the telephone.

Your bank or building society offers you the security given by the Direct Debit Guarantee:

If the amounts to be paid or the payment dates change the council will notify you 5 working days in advance of your account being debited.

If the council, your bank or building society make an error you are guaranteed a full and immediate refund from your branch of the amount paid.

You can cancel a direct debit at any time by writing to your bank or building society. Please also send a copy of your letter to us.

In response to feedback from our customer survey we introduced an additional payment date option for direct debit payers.
 
Customers can now choose between a mid month or end of month payment date .
 
In Person
At any Council Information Service Office or the Post Office.

Armadale - 1/3 East Main Street
Bathgate - Lindsay House, South Bridge Street
Broxburn - Strathbrock Partnership Centre, 189a West Main Street
Fauldhouse - 10 Main Street
Linlithgow - County Buildings, High Street
Livingston - Carmondean Connected, Deans; or
               - West Lothian Connected, Almondvale Centre
West Calder - 24-26 Main Street
Whitburn - 5 East Main Street
Opening times vary between Council Information Service Centres  .

If paying at a Council Information Service Centre or Post Office please make sure that you or the person paying for you is given a receipt. You should keep the receipt in case you need it later. Please also make sure that the payment card is given back, as you will need this to make future payments.

If paying by cheque at a Council Information Service Centre it should be made payable to 'West Lothian Council'. If you are paying by cheque at the Post Office it should be made payable to 'Post Office Counters Ltd.' Your cheque should also be crossed and your Business Rates reference written on the back.
 
Over the telephone
Payments can be made using your credit or debit card; by telephone on 01506 775050 

e-billing
You can choose to receive your Business Rates bill electronically. The advantages of this are:

• faster ways of communicating with you;
• there is a reply to sender facility so you can email any questions you have back to the sender;
• you can help the environment;
• you can help us save money on paper, envelopes and postage;
• a link to our online payment facility.

If you would like to receive your Business Rates Bill electronically please let us know.

e-payments
You can also pay your Business Rates online here. There is also a link to this facility through your e-bill.

Paying your rates on time
You must pay your rates as instructed in your bill. If you have not paid at least four of your monthly instalments by 30 September 2009, you will lose your right to pay in instalments. Also, if you miss two or more payments after 30 September 2009, you will lose your right to pay in instalments.

If you have chosen to pay your bill in one instalment, you must make this payment by 1 October 2009. If you do not, you will lose your right to pay in instalments.

Arrears
If you lose your right to pay by instalments the council will send you a Final Notice. You will have 14 days from the date of the notice to pay the rates due for the year. If you do not pay as instructed the council would apply to the Sheriff for a Summary Warrant. A penalty of ten percent of the balance due will then be added to your account. 
 
Changes in Circumstances
 
If for any reason your circumstances change then we would ask you to let us know so that we can keep our records as up to date as possible. We would ask you to either contact us or download, complete and return our enquiry form

Some reasons for a change may include: 

• Moving In - If you have taken over a new property, please tell us your name and the date of entry to the property. We will then send you an enquiry form to complete.
• Moving Out - If you are a tenant in a rented property and are about to give up your tenancy, please contact us so we can finalise your bill.
• Selling your Property - Please get your solicitor to confirm: the date of sale; name and address of the buyer; the purchasing solicitor's name and address.

Appeals
You can appeal against your rates charge if you believe we have not assessed the charge correctly. For example, if:

• the person named on the bill is not the ratepayer;
• the rateable value or net yearly value does not match the entry in the valuation roll (to see the valuation roll, please contact the Assessor for Lothian Joint Valuation Board);
• we have not worked out the rates correctly; or
• we have not awarded a relief or a reduction.

If you want to make an appeal, you must write to:

Revenues and Benefits Manager
Revenues Unit
St David House
South Bridge Street
Bathgate
EH48 1TT.

You must continue to pay your rates if you appeal.

Service Standards

• Deal with your enquiry fairly and sensitively;
• Deal with your enquiry promptly and accurately;
• Communicate with you clearly and make sure our documents are easily understood;
• Ask you regularly if our services are meeting your needs and strive for continuous improvement;
• Make sure you can access the services we deliver;
• Provide a complete revenues and benefits service to West Lothian;
• Work in partnership with customers to achieve a service that satisfies their objectives and fulfils value for money;
• Measure and monitor our performance against other revenues and benefits services;
• Monitor and review our performance against our standards openly and publish the outcome.

Performance

Current performance information will be available to download here shortly.

Complaints, Comments and Compliments

If you are unhappy with the service or we have not done something we said we would, please let us know. Problems can arise without our knowledge so we welcome the opportunity to put matters right. We also like to hear when a service is delivered well. In both cases, we value your opinion!

In the first instance we would ask you to follow Financial Management's own complaints procedure . Most problems can be dealt with quickly by people closest to the situation

If you are unhappy with Financial Management's response then you can escalate your complaint through the council's formal procedures by downloading a "Points of View" leaflet.

Date of last update:  23/09/2011