1. Overview
Non-Domestic Rates (NDR) are also known as business rates and are taxes to help pay for local services. These are charges on most non domestic properties. If you pay business rates, your property may be eligible for business rates relief.
Some premises will be exempt from business rates, while others may qualify for reliefs provided by the Welsh Government.
Local authoritiescan also grant hardship relief to businesses if they believe that it is in the interests of the local community to do so.
General guidance to support local authorities in the administration of reliefs is available
here.
2. How your business rates are calculated
Your business rates are calculated by taking the Rateable Value (RV) of your property and multiplying it by the current non-domestic rates 'multiplier' (or 'poundage').For the financial year 2024-25 the multiplier is 0.562.
The Valuation Office Agency (VOA) values properties and assigns the RV.
If you think your RV is incorrect want to appeal, contact the VOA. If you and the VOA cannot reach agreement, you may appeal to the Valuation Tribunal for Wales (VTW).
Properties exempt from business rates include:
- agricultural land and buildings, including fish farms
- buildings used for training or the welfare of disabled persons
- buildings registered for public religious worship and church halls
You can find a list of the exempt types of property in Schedule 5 to the Local Government Finance Act 1988.
3. Types of business rates relief
Retail, Leisure and Hospitality Rates Relief 2024-25
All applications for relief should be made to your local authority. Links to the relevant local authority application forms will be available here after the scheme launches on 1 April 2024.
In 2024-25, the Welsh Government will provide £78m of targeted non-domestic rates support to businesses in the retail, leisure and hospitality sectors.
Businesses will be eligible for 40% off their liability for the financial year. The amount of relief under the Welsh Government’s Retail, Leisure and Hospitality Rates Relief scheme will be capped at £110,000 per business across Wales.
View guidance here on Retail, Leisure and Hospitality Rates Relief in Wales for 2024-25.
Small Business Rates Relief in Wales
The Welsh Government provides non-domestic rates relief to eligible small businesses.
- those with a rateable value of up to £6,000 will receive 100% relief;
- those with a rateable value between £6,001 and £12,000 will receive relief on a tapered basis from 100% to zero; and
- subject to a maximum of two properties per business in each local authority.
Tailored support is available for registered childcare providers and post offices.
Guidance for Small Business Rates Relief is available here.
Charitable Rates Relief
If your property is occupied by a registered charity or community amateur sports club, and used for charitable purposes, you automatically qualify for 80% mandatory rates relief.
You may qualify for relief of up to 100% at the discretion of the local authority if your property is occupied by a non-profit making body and used for eligible purposes.
Guidance for Charitable Rates Relief is available here.
Rates relief for empty properties
Empty business properties are exempt from paying business rates for three months after the property becomes unoccupied. There are additional exemptions for certain types of property or for properties under a set rateable value.
After the exemption period ends, you will be liable for the full business rates bill. You should notify your local authority when your property becomes vacant and also when it becomes re-occupied.
Guidance for Empty Property Relief is available here.
Transitional Relief
From 1 April 2023, following the revaluation, the Welsh Government is providing all ratepayers whose liability is increasing by more than £300, as a consequence of revaluation, with transitional relief. Any increase in non-domestic rates liability as a result of revaluation will be phased in over two years.
A ratepayer will pay 33% of their additional liability in the first year (2023-24) and 66% in the second year (2024-25), before reaching their full liability in the third year (2025-26). The Welsh Government is providing £113m over two years to fund this relief, supporting all areas of the tax-base through a consistent and straightforward transitional scheme.
Guidance for Transitional Relief is available here.
Improvement Relief
From 1 April 2024, the Welsh Government is providing Improvement Relief to ratepayers investing in improvements to their non-domestic properties which will support their business. The relief will delay the effect of a resulting rateable value increase on their non-domestic rates liability for a period of 12 months. This will ensure that businesses and other ratepayers are able to start realising the benefits of improvements they make, before their non-domestic rates bill increases.
Guidance for Improvement Relief is available here.
Heat Networks Relief
From 1 April 2024, the Welsh Government is providing Heat Networks Relief. The relief is intended to support the development and growth of this sector that is anticipated over the next decade, by helping to minimise the financial barriers to the establishment of networks. This, in turn, is intended to help support the transition away from the use of fossil fuels and the decarbonisation of heat. Heat networks supply thermal energy from a central source to consumers, through a network of pipes. The Welsh Government is providing full (100%) relief to non-domestic hereditaments used wholly or mainly as a heat network providing thermal energy generated from low-carbon sources. The qualifying conditions are explained in more detail in the guidance.
Guidance for Heat Networks Relief is available here.
Hardship relief
Local authorities can also grant hardship relief to businesses if they believe that it is in the interests of the local community to do so. For more information on hardship relief contact your local authority.
Guidance on how local authorities should apply the relief can be found here.
4. Self-Catering Properties
From 1 April 2023 in Wales, a self- catering property is classified as non-domestic and liable for business rates, if the Valuation office Agency is satisfied that:
- it will be available for letting commercially as self-catering accommodation for short periods totalling 252 days or more in the following 12 month period
- the ratepayer’s interest in the property enables them to let it for such periods
- in the 12 months prior to assessment it has been available for letting commercially as self-catering accommodation for short periods totalling 252 days or more
- the short periods it has actually been commercially let for amounted to at least 182 days during that period
Guidance on business rates for self-catering properties in Wales is available here.
5. Recent Updates
The Welsh Government will periodically be publishing a Bulletin setting out recent non-domestic rates developments.
- Local authority application links for Retail, Leisure and Hospitality Relief Scheme 2024-25 | Business Wales (gov.wales)
- February 2022
- April 2022
- July 2022
- November 2022
- January 2023
- March 2023
- June 2023
- November 2023
- January 2024
