Small businesses only have a week left to use £200m relief pot
Unless they lodge claims by 30 September, companies occupying commercial premises between 1 April 2007 and April 2010 could miss out on £200m of backdated small business rate relief
Unless they lodge claims by 30 September, companies occupying commercial premises between 1 April 2007 and April 2010 could miss out on £200m of backdated small business rate relief
Small businesses face losing out on at least £200m in backdated rate relief
unless they lodge claims by next week.
Unless they lodge claims by the 30 September deadline businesses occupying
commercial premises between 1 April 2007 and April 2010 could miss out on the
backdated small business rate relief according to figures from property
specialist LeaseholdersUnited.
LeaseholdersUnited’s Andrew Bacon, who is Property Adviser to the
not-for-profit business support and lobby group the Forum of Private Business,
said the problem is being made worse because too few business owners are aware
that they can claim the relief.
Bacon said many local councils fail to provide details of the relief, publish
inaccurate information and that some even continue to provide outdated,
ineligible forms.
“Claiming backdated SBRR before 30 September 2010 could mean that a small
business paying £5000 a year in rent gets a cheque back from the council that is
enough to cover its overheads until March 2011, just for filling in a form,”
said Bacon.
Mr Bacon urged business owners to follow five simple steps in order to make
sure they submit claims before the 30 September deadline using the correct
forms:
-Firstly, go to www.sbrr.co.uk
-Enter your local authority details and your email address
-Receive the correct form, together with completion notes and a fax number
for the council
-Fill it in and fax it off before 30 September 2010
-If eligible the Council will send the business a cheque and then also
automatically grant any Small Business Rate Relief from 1 April 2010 onwards.
“Many businesses have downloaded claim forms for free from www.sbrr.co.uk in
the last 2 days, enabling them to claim as much as £5000 each,” Bacon added.
“Had they waited until 1 October to do this, they would only have been able
to claim £2000,” he said.
“Time is running out so it is important to act now,” Bacon added.
” The simple solution is for every business to send in the correct claim form
before 30 September 2010. Those who are not eligible will simply be rejected but
those that are eligible will get the money they deserve.”
Further reading:
Private
businesses call for Time to Pay increase