Submitted by John on 7 Mar 2024 - 4:33pm
Where an organisation is liable for business rates and is either a registered charity or a Community Amateur Sports Club (CASC) they are entitled to claim 80% mandatory rates relief on their occupied charge. They have the option of applying for discretionary rates relief on the remaining 20%. To do so they are required to make a written application and provide the last 2 years of audited accounts.
Where an organisation is not a registered charity or CASC, they are not entitled to claim 80% mandatory relief, however they may claim discretionary relief. Currently this relief where awarded is at 100%. However, Middlesbrough Council’s policy is changing from 1 April 2024 so that the maximum discretionary relief awarded will be 20%
Historically, Middlesbrough has several organisations who do not register as a charity or CASC and we would encourage them to explore registration as either a charity or CASC as from a rating point of view this will allow them to qualify for 80% mandatory relief.
Rating legislation specifically says that organisations which are registered as Community Interest Companies (CICs) are not entitled to 80% mandatory relief and may only apply for discretionary relief. Due to the change of policy from 1 April 2024, those organisations which may have qualified for 100% discretionary relief in the past will now only qualify for 20% discretionary relief.
The link to the relevant Business Rates Home Page is shown below with further details.
Charitable rate relief | Middlesbrough Council
MVDA would like to hear your views about the changes to the discretionary rate relief available to Voluntary and Community Sector Organisations. Please email john.atkinson@mvdauk.org.uk to share your views.
