Business rates and calculations
Last Updated: 3 April 2024
The National Non-Domestic Rates (Business Rates) are the way that businesses and others who occupy non-domestic property, contribute towards the cost of local services.
District and county councils retain a proportion of the funds collected, with the remainder sent to central government and redistributed to local councils according to a number of factors including levels of deprivation, sparsity and the number of people living in the area.
The money, together with revenue from Council Tax payers, revenue support grant provided by the Government and certain other sums, is used to pay for the services provided by us and other local authorities in your area.
Under the Business Rates retention arrangements introduced from 1 April 2013, authorities keep a proportion of the Business Rate paid locally. This provides a direct financial incentive for authorities to work with local businesses to create a favourable local environment for growth, since authorities will benefit from growth in Business Rates revenues.