Business Rates update - Scotland

We are approaching another key milestone in the run-up to the 2023 Revaluation. On the 30 November, a draft version of the 2023 Revaluation Roll will be published, and you will shortly thereafter receive notification from the Scottish Assessors with the draft valuation notices. This is a key date as it allows review of the Assessor’s valuations before the values go ‘live’ in April.

There is an opportunity from early December to engage with the Assessor to discuss, influence or even pre-agree rateable values before the requirement of submission of an onerous proposal from 1 April 2023. Once the draft valuation roll has been published, we can prepare and send you updated liability schedules and to ensure that all the relevant paperwork is in place for us to continue to act on your behalf.

The “Scary” bit – Upcoming Legislation

Unfortunately, the scary bit is that the Scottish Government has now confirmed that they have delayed formalising the new appeal regulations and the legislation for the transfer of the Valuation Appeal Committee to the Scottish Court Tribunal Service.

Ratepayers will have receipt of draft values prior to having knowledge of how the new appeal system will operate, what must be done where you feel aggrieved on the valuations, and how the new Tribunal System will operate. We had hoped to update our clients last week, however there has been a delay and the regulations are now not due to be published by the Scottish Government until Mid-December.

Only on that date will we have absolute clarity on how the machinery of the next revaluation will look, to allow us to advise you correctly, unfortunately we do not anticipate this will be an early Christmas present for ratepayers. However, confirmed instructions are needed very soon to open the door to discussions with Assessors.

We are anticipating the newly reformed Non-Domestic rates system will be onerous to you as the ratepayer and will be underpinned with strict legislative procedures and timelines. Gerald Eve is the largest business rates specialists in Scotland. We are here to assist you through this tumultuous process.

We are prepared to face the new challenges of the upcoming 2023 revaluation with you. Early engagement is paramount to ensure there is sufficient time.

Please do not hesitate to contact us if you have any queries. We are here to discuss any specific issues regarding your properties and will keep you informed of further news on the business rates front.