Frequent revaluations for business rates as part of the Fundamental Review.
AR Members may be aware that the government has today published a consultation on more frequent revaluations for business rates, as part of the Fundamental Review.
The AR Board has actively responded to previous consultations and intended to do so again this time.
If you have any particular points you would wish the Technical and Planning Sub Group to consider when preparing its response please send your comments as soon as possible and certainly by no later than 30th July in order that they be considered. They can be emailed to Will McKee - William McKee william@wmconsulting.co.uk
The consultation runs for 8 weeks, and will close on 24th August 2021. The document is accessible at the existing landing page for the review:
Should you wish to send your own response this can be done via the following link at https://www.smartsurvey.co.uk/s/morefrequentrevals/
As set out in the earlier Interim Report, frequency of revaluations was identified by respondents to last year’s call for evidence as a priority for reform of the system. This consultation seeks to invite views on proposals on this particular element of the system – it does not include in scope the other elements of the business rates system, such as reliefs and the multiplier, where further updates will be provided at the conclusion of the Fundamental Review in the Autumn.
This consultation seeks views from all interested parties in the proposed package of reforms that would be necessary to support the delivery of a 3-yearly revaluations cycle. Moving to a faster cycle would represent a fundamental reform to the business rates system, providing a number of key benefits for ratepayers, including ensuring that business rates liabilities more rapidly update to reflect changing economic conditions, and improving distributional fairness. In addition, to ensure that a faster cycle is deliverable, the proposed package includes a range of supporting measures which are designed to improve the accuracy of valuations, enable greater transparency on valuations, ensure that all Challenges can be cleared within the life of the list, and more.
The consultation also addresses the prospect of an annual revaluations cycle and a shorter AVD gap. While, for the reasons set out in the consultation, it is the government’s view that these are not currently deliverable without significant restrictions to appeal rights and the valuation process, changes to the AVD and further increases in the frequency of revaluations remain on the table for the future.
The Department invites responses and hopes that parties will all be able to read the consultation details and submit a response, which will be immensely valuable in helping to inform ongoing work.