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The 2020/21 rate year starts on 1 April 2020 and rates bills for this year will be issued shortly, generally during March in England and Wales, and during April in Scotland. The Government has announced that the setting of the Uniform Business Rate multiplier in England will be based on Consumer Price Index (CPI) inflation, rather than the Retail Price Index (RPI) figure, but having done so, it found that applying CPI would have taken the small business multiplier above the psychologically significant 50 pence barrier, so it has acted to reduce that figure.
The Ministry of Housing Communities and Local Government has announced that the 2020/21 small business Uniform Business Rate multiplier in England will be 49.9 pence. This will apply to hereditaments with a rateable value of less than £51,000. The multiplier for larger businesses, those occupying properties with a rateable value of £51,000 or more, will be 51.2 pence.
For those properties in London paying the Crossrail Business Rates Supplement, this will remain at 2.0 pence, the maximum allowed figure.
In Wales, the Welsh Assembly Government Budget for 2020/21 is not yet finalised, but it is anticipated that the Uniform Business Rate multiplier for 2020/21 will be 53.5 pence.
In Scotland, for 2020/21, there will be three different non-domestic rates multipliers. The basic multiplier will be 49.8 pence and this will be payable by properties with a rateable value of £51,000 or less. The intermediate property multiplier will be 51.1 pence and this will be payable by properties with a rateable value of between £51,001 and £95,000. The higher property multiplier will be 52.4 pence and this will be payable by properties with a rateable value more than £95,000.
