In the Autumn Statement 2014 the Government announced that the scheme of transitional adjustments to rate liability that was introduced following the 2010 rating revaluation, and which was due to expire in 2015, would be extended in limited circumstances. The guidance as to how this extension will be delivered has now been published and contains a number of unexpected details. ...Read More

The Business Rates Administration Review announced in the Autumn Statement 2013 has published its interim findings, just after the 2014 Autumn Statement announced a full structural review of business rates. Is the Government just kicking the business rates can down the road, or is there something to this? ...Read More

The Government has published a discussion paper on business rates avoidance strategies, with a view to closing what it regards as loopholes in the law. ...Read More

The Chancellor's Autumn Statement contained a number of headline announcements about business rates, but many of the welcome ones were offset, or their effect neutralised, by other details buried in the Statement. As is so often the case "the devil is in the detail". ...Read More

The valuation dates for the 2017 Rating Revaluations in England and Wales have now been confirmed by Parliamentary Orders. ...Read More

New Rateable Values, which will come into effect on 1 April 2015 in Northern Ireland, have been published by Land and Property Services on its website. ...Read More

The Minister has approved an order setting the valuation date for the 2017 business rates revaluation as 1 April 2015. ...Read More

The Valuation Office Agency has announced that many of its local offices in England and Wales are to close, reducing its number of offices from more than 60 to around 25. ...Read More

The September 2014 Retail Prices Index (RPI) figure has been announced today and shows a 2.3% increase over the previous year. This sets the upper limit by which next year's Uniform Business Rate (UBR) can increase in England. ...Read More

The SNP has unveiled its first budget since the referendum on Scottish independence and has promised an end to the business rates Public Health Levy and to cap its uniform business rate increases to levels no higher than those in England. ...Read More