Question reference: S6W-19898
- Date lodged: 11 July 2023
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Current status: Answered by Shona Robison on 7 August 2023
Question
To ask the Scottish Government what the most recent known level at which business rates begin to be paid for the rateable value of individual properties is in Scotland, and what information it has on how this compares with the level in (a) England and (b) Wales.
Answer
The Scottish Budget delivered a package of reliefs for 2023-24 worth £749 million, including the Small Business Bonus Scheme which offers up to 100% relief for eligible individual properties in Scotland with a rateable value of up to £20,000.
To improve the design of the scheme, the Scottish Government expanded the upper eligibility threshold for the Small Business Bonus Scheme from £18,000 to £20,000 and made the relief more progressive by introducing a taper for properties with a rateable value between £12,001 and £20,000. The Small Business Bonus Scheme remains the most generous scheme of its kind in the UK, and continues to take 100,000 properties out of rates altogether. Table 1 provides a comparison of small business rates reliefs in Scotland, England and Wales.
Table 1: Small Business Rates Reliefs in Scotland, England and Wales in 2023-24
Scotland | England | Wales | |
Small business 100% relief threshold (rateable value) *
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The relief is 100% for properties with a rateable value up to £12,000. |
The relief is 100% for properties with a rateable value up to £12,000 |
The relief is 100% for properties with a rateable value up to £6,000. |
Small business relief thresholds (rateable value) for relief less than 100% * |
The relief tapers from 100% to 25% for properties with rateable value from £12,001 to £15,000.
The relief tapers from 25% to 0% for properties with a rateable value from £15,001 to £20,000. |
The relief tapers from 100% to 0% for properties with a rateable value from £12,001 to £15,000. |
The relief tapers from 100% to 0% for properties with a rateable value from £6,001 to £12,000. |
Small business relief cumulative rules for ratepayers with multiple properties. |
The relief may also be available for ratepayers with multiple properties where the total rateable value of all of the properties does not exceed £35,000.
Where the total rateable value is £12,000 or less, the relief is 100%.
Where total rateable value is between £12,001 to £35,000:
The relief is 25% for properties with an individual rateable value of £15,000 or less.
The relief tapers from 25% to 0% for properties with an individual rateable value of £15,001 to £20,000.
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The relief is available for ratepayers with only one property.
If a ratepayer occupies a second property, the relief continues to be available on the existing property for 12 months before expiring, unless the rateable values of both properties are less than £2,900 and the total rateable value is less than £20,000 (£28,000 in London). |
The relief is limited to two properties per business in each local authority. |
*Note: A property is required to meet eligibility criteria other than rateable value in order to be eligible for the relief. For example, in Scotland properties used for the purposes of payday lending or betting shops are not eligible. Similarly, there are eligibility restrictions for ratepayers occupying multiple properties as shown in the table.