Charitable Relief
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Apply for Business Rates Relief
Charities and not-for-profit organisations can get up to a 100 per cent reduction in their business rates. Should you require further information please contact the Business Rates team on 01684 295010. To apply online for Charitable Relief, please visit our Citizen Access Revenues portal.
Mandatory rate relief for Charities
Organisations that are recognised as charities for UK tax purposes can claim 80 per cent relief from the business rates if:
- The charity (or trustees of the charity) is the rate payer, and
- The charity uses the property wholly, or mainly, for charitable purposes.
If the property is unoccupied, the intention must be to use it for charitable purposes.
For charity shops, the charity must use the property wholly or mainly to sell goods donated to it. It must also use the net proceeds for the purposes of the charity.
Mandatory rate relief for Community Amateur Sports Clubs
We treat sports clubs, which have registered for Community Amateur Sports Club (CASC) status with Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs, in a similar way to registered charities and will give them 80 per cent mandatory relief if:
- The club is the rate payer, and
- The club uses the property wholly, or mainly, for purposes of the club or other registered clubs.
If the property is unoccupied, the intention must be to use it for the club or other registered clubs.
Discretionary rate relief
Any organisation that qualifies for 80 per cent mandatory rate relief may also apply for discretionary relief for all or part of the remaining 20 per cent of its bill.
If an organisation is not a charity, but has been set up for religious, social welfare, artistic, educational or recreational purposes, and is not run to make a profit, we can grant up to 100 per cent discretionary rate relief.
Each application is considered on its own merits, based on the information you provide and any other relevant information that may be available.