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Showing posts from March, 2014

Business Rates Reform - Easy as Pie and (data) Mash(up)

Business Rates - not exactly a sexy topic but as highlighted by this BBC News article , it's something of huge importance to the UK economy and many businesses both old and new trying to grow in a world of online retailers and a slowly recovering economy. As detailed helpfully on the gov.uk site , business rates are basically the non-residential equivalent of Council Tax. Premises are taxed annually to pay for services like rubbish collection, street lights and so on. While some types of property are exempt, the rates affect offices and shops with some types of organisations and areas subject to various forms of discounts . Complicated! Now, with rates calculated by the Valuation Office Agency (in England & Wales at least) based upon the value of the property (similar to the Council Tax banding process with the occasional re-assessment) and a multiplier set by central Government (linked to inflation); there are inevitably going to be some businesses get better value fo