1 August 2001
The Valuation Office is reviewing its timetables (programmes) for
dealing with appeals against rating assessments and during August
is offering business ratepayers the opportunity to comment on them.
The VOA, a government agency, first introduced programmes for rating
appeals in April 2000 with the aim of giving ratepayers greater
certainty about when their appeals would be dealt with.
Stephen Wright, who is coordinating the review explains, 'When
we drew up our original programmes last year we had to base them
on a prediction of the number of appeals we would receive and promised
that we would review the programmes every year to make sure they
remained realistic. We are now in the process of doing this and
once again we are giving ratepayers the chance to have their say.
In some areas our programme of work has been affected by a high
number of appeals related to the restrictions imposed by foot and
mouth disease. This is just one of the factors we will be taking
in to account when we conduct our review.
The proposed revised programmes will be available in local valuation
offices and can also be viewed on our web site at www.voa.gov.uk'
Valuation Officers will consider any representations made during
August and finalise the revised programmes in October.
Notes for editors
All appeals made since 1 April 2000 have been put into a programme
showing when the Valuation Office intends to deal with them. The
programmes give ratepayers an indication of the date discussions
around their appeal are expected to begin and when they might be
concluded. Any appeal which cannot be settled by discussion can
be heard by the independent local valuation tribunal.
Every non-domestic property, the majority of which are businesses,
has a rateable value which is assessed independently by the Valuation
Office. These values are reviewed every five years.
In broad terms the rateable value is a professional view of the
annual rent for a property if it was available on the open market
at a fixed valuation date. Using the same date for all values means
that all properties have been assessed at the same point in time.
At present this date is 1 April 1998
Rateable values are a key factor in the calculation of business
rates, but they are not the rates bill. An increase or decrease
in rateable value does not automatically lead to a smaller or larger
bill because the final calculation is based on a number of other
factors. These include transitional relief and a multiplier which
are set by Government. Local authorities are responsible for calculating
final rates bills and collecting rates.
The Valuation Office is an executive agency of the Inland Revenue.
Its main activities (in England and Wales only) are valuations for
rating and banding of properties for council tax. In Scotland, England
and Wales the agency establishes valuations for Inheritance and
Capital Gains tax for the Inland Revenue, for right to buy and carries
out valuations of land and buildings for a wide range of public
sector clients.
For further information
VOA web-site: www.voa.gov.uk
Media enquiries: 0207 506 1927
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