Citation, application, commencement and interpretation

1. —(1) This Order, which applies to England only, may be cited as the Non-Domestic Rating (Small Business Rate Relief) (England) Order 2004 and shall come into force—

(a) for the purposes of articles 3(3), 4 and 5, on 4th January 2005; and

(b) for all other purposes, on 1st April 2005.

(2) In this Order, “the Act” means the Local Government Finance Act 1988.

Maximum rateable value to be eligible for small business rate relief

2. For the purposes of subsection 43(4B)(a)(i) (mandatory relief for small businesses) of the Act, the amount prescribed—

(a) for a hereditament situated in Greater London, is £21,499;

(b) for a hereditament situated outside Greater London, is £14,999.

Conditions for relief

3. —(1) For the purposes of subsection 43(4B)(a)(ii) of the Act, the conditions to be satisfied, subject to paragraph (4), are the conditions in paragraphs (2) and (3).

(2) The first condition is that on the chargeable day the ratepayer—

(a) occupies only one hereditament in England; and

(b) the rateable value of that hereditament as shown in the local non-domestic rating list for—

(i) the first day of the chargeable financial year;

(ii) the chargeable day; and

(iii) each day (if any) falling after the first day of the chargeable financial year and before the chargeable day,

is not more than the amount prescribed, as regards the hereditament, in article 2.

(3) The second condition is that the ratepayer makes an application to the billing authority concerned in respect of each chargeable financial year by serving it on the authority—

(a) in respect of the financial year beginning on 1st April 2005, no earlier than 4th January 2005; and

(b) in any other case, no earlier than 1st October in the preceding financial year,

and no later than 30th September in the year following the chargeable financial year to which the application relates or where, in relation to the hereditament to which the application relates, the condition in paragraph (2) becomes satisfied due to an alteration of a local non-domestic rating list—

(i) 30th September in the year following the chargeable financial year to which the application relates; or

(ii) the day that falls six months after the date on which the billing authority concerned is notified of the alteration pursuant to regulations under section 55 of the Act (alteration of lists),

whichever is later.

(4) In determining whether the first condition is satisfied for a day the ratepayer’s occupation of any other hereditament in England shall be disregarded where—

(a) its rateable value shown in the local non-domestic rating list for that day is not more than £2,199; and

(b) the aggregate rateable value on that day of all the hereditaments the ratepayer occupies in England is not more than the amount prescribed, as regards the hereditament for which relief is sought, in article 2.

The application

4. —(1) An application under section 43(4B)(a)(iii) of the Act shall be in the form specified in the Schedule or a form to the like effect, shall contain the information there specified and shall be signed by the ratepayer or a person authorised to sign on behalf of the ratepayer.

(2) In paragraph (1)—

“person authorised to sign on behalf of the ratepayer” means, where the ratepayer is—

in any other case, a person duly authorised to sign on behalf of the ratepayer; and

“signature”, “sign” or “signed”, in relation to an application served, in accordance with article 5, by electronic communication, includes the incorporation in it, or the logical association with it, of an electronic signature, as defined in section 7(2) of the Electronic Communications Act 2000( 2 ).

Service of applications

5. —(1) An application under subsection 43(4B)(a)(iii) of the Act shall be served on the billing authority concerned by—

(a) addressing it to the authority; and

(b) delivering it or sending it to the authority’s office by post or electronic communication.

(2) Any application sent by electronic communication shall, unless the contrary is proved, be regarded as served when it is received in a legible form.

(3) In this article, “electronic communication” has the meaning given in section 15(1) of the Electronic Communications Act 2000( 3 ).

Amount of E

6. —(1) The amount of E prescribed for the purposes of subsection 44(9) of the Act, where the rateable value of the hereditament shown in the local non-domestic rating list for the chargeable day for which small business rate relief is sought—

(a) is not more than £5,000, shall be 2;

(b) is more than £5,000 and not more than £10,000, shall be, subject to paragraph (2), the amount derived from dividing 10,000 by the rateable value of the hereditament shown in the local non-domestic rating list for that day; and

(c) is more than £10,000 and not more than the amount prescribed, as regards the hereditament, in article 2, shall be 1.

(2) Amounts calculated under paragraph (1)(b), shall be calculated to three decimal places only—

(a) adding one thousandth where (apart from this sub-paragraph) there would be more than five ten-thousandths; and

(b) ignoring the ten-thousandths where (apart from this sub-paragraph) there would be five, or less than five, ten-thousandths.

Article 4

SCHEDULE