We are encouraging local businesses and non-profit making organisations to check their business rates (NNDR) bills to ensure they are claiming all the relief they are entitled to.
Councillor Rob Strachan, Cabinet Member for Finance and Commissioning, commented:
"With various reliefs available, it is essential that eligible organisations do not miss out on valuable support. We recognise the importance of businesses to the local economy and understand the challenges they face. We also acknowledge the vital contribution of voluntary, charitable, and non-profit making organisations to the district, which may also be subject to business rates."
There are various types of business rates relief available to support different types of businesses and organisations. These include small business rate relief, which helps small businesses with lower rateable values to reduce or eliminate their rates bill, retail, hospitality, and leisure relief, which provides significant reductions to eligible properties in those sectors, and non-profit making organisations discretionary relief, which supports charities and voluntary groups that contribute positively to the community.
In addition, Lichfield District Council offers discretionary reliefs for organisations including charities, community amateur sports clubs, properties within rural settlements, partially occupied properties, and organisations suffering severe hardship. Each application for discretionary relief is carefully considered on its merits, with a focus on the positive contribution made to the local economy and community.
Councillor Richard Holland, Cabinet Member for High Streets & Economic Development, commented:
"I’ve worked recently to help a number of local businesses make sure they claim the reliefs they are entitled to, and I’m keen to raise the profile of business rate reliefs to help as many businesses as possible. It’s really easy to find out what you are claiming currently, and how to apply and I’d encourage all businesses to check out www.lichfielddc.gov.uk/ratesrelief to make sure they are claiming all they are entitled and to reach out to our team if they have any queries.”
Emma Smith from Grace Cares which has been supported recently by Cllr Holland and the business rates team added: "We are extremely grateful to Lichfield District Council for supporting our not for profit organisation. It is really important to keep our overheads down as much as we can in order to support more people in the community. So after seeking help to check our rates we were thrilled to discover we could have full rate relief, this is a huge help to our small organisation.
To find out if your business or organisation is already claiming relief, check your business rates bill or visit our dedicated rates relief web page for the full list of reliefs granted and business rate payers. To apply for relief please visit the rates relief web page. If you have any questions, you can email the team at revenues@lichfielddc.gov.uk.