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Rebecca Evans AM for Gower, has welcomed the passing of transitional rate relief scheme regulations in the Assembly. These regulations allow the Welsh Government to introduce a new programme to assist businesses that face an increase in business rates as a result of a recent revaluation carried out by the independent Valuation Office Agency.
For those small businesses adversely affected by the revaluation the Welsh Government is introducing a £10m transitional relief scheme from April 1, 2017. This transitional relief will enable all those eligible ratepayers to phase in their increase in liability over a three-year period. Relief will be provided automatically to the bills of all eligible ratepayers to ensure that there is not an added administrative burden on businesses. The transitional relief scheme being implemented by the Tory UK Government in England will be funded by ratepayers who see reductions in their rateable values following the revaluation. In effect this means that the scheme in England simply takes money from one business to give to another. With the introduction of this new relief scheme next year, the Welsh Government will provide almost £200 million in total of financial assistance to businesses in Wales through mandatory and discretionary reliefs. Rebecca Evans AM said: “This scheme demonstrates that the Welsh Government understands the needs of businesses in Wales. "While we don't have power over the revaluation, we have nonetheless taken strong steps to support affected businesses. Our scheme will mean that more than three-quarters of rate paying businesses here will receive some form of support. “Our approach is much fairer than that being taken forward in England, which just takes money from one business to give to another." Comments are closed.
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