Business Rates – Reliefs
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.
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.
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.
From 1 April 2010 we have amended our discretionary relief scheme to grant:
- 100% relief to credit unions; and
- 80% relief to community-interest companies.
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.
Rural rate 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 £12,750. For small food shops, general shops and post offices, the rateable value must not be more than £8,500.
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 £17,000. 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.
You must fill in an application form.
By law West Lothian Council must protect the money we manage. We will share information you give us with other organisations responsible for auditing or managing public funds, to prevent and detect fraud.
We will review awards of discount, exemption and relief and reserve the right to use credit reference agencies to validate any such awards.
Updated 24/03/2012
