Ratepayers urged to check valuation details
Business owners across Yorkshire and the Humber are being urged by the Valuation Office Agency (VOA) to check that their valuation details are correct before 2010 rates bill are sent out.
A new website has been set up by the VOA to enable businesses to check their details quickly to ensure that valuations are fair and accurate. This is the first year this information has been available online in this way. By logging on to the Valuation Office Agency website, ratepayers will be able to compare their details with other similar properties and, where necessary, contact the VOA for assistance. The site offers lots of straightforward help and even short videos on key topics, designed to explain the valuation process.
The VOA will also be writing to businesses, reminding them to check their property valuation and encouraging them to visit the new website. It is essential to check that the property valuation is correct, as business rates bills are calculated based on these figures.
The VOA's revaluation project manager, Steve Bliss, says:
"It's very simple. Ratepayers should check the details of the new valuation immediately and get in touch if there are any errors. If it's wrong we want to put it right now. Businesses should look out for our clearly marked envelopes - they may be addressed to 'the occupier' but they're important."
Each valuation clearly shows the details of the business property, whether it is a shop, an office or a warehouse, including the number of rooms, their description and size, and the value applied to each area.
Roger Culcheth of the Federation of Small Business (FSB) adds:
"The VOA is giving ratepayers as much information as possible, well in advance. We all have to pay business rates and it is important for everyone to understand what this bill is based on and how the final figure is arrived at. That's easy if you have the valuation details sent to you and the opportunity to check them now, before the rates are calculated."
New 2010/11rates bills for business in North Lincolnshire will be calculated and issued by North Lincolnshire Council in early 2010.
Business Link
To help businesses get an advance indication of how their new valuation translates into what they will pay, a rates bill 'indicator' has been set up at estimate my rates on the Business Link web site.