The Welsh Government confirmed last week (11 July) that the next business rate revaluation will be brought forward by one year to 2021, in line with England, though the duration of the revaluation is unknown.
Phillip Jay, director in JLL’s rating team in Wales and South West, commented: “We welcome the Welsh government’s decision to bring forward the next business rate revaluation to 2021 in line with England, but would like to see Wales moving to a three-yearly revaluation cycles as already confirmed by both England and Scotland.”
Phillip added: “The Welsh Government is currently reviewing the responses to its last consultation paper, which included many well thought out proposals including reducing the liability for empty rates. However, it also proposed onerous responsibilities with fines for ratepayers who fail to inform local councils of changes within short time-limits, a proposal that is firmly in favor of the councils and not business.
“In addition, we still wait with baited breath to see if the anti-business Check, Challenge and Appeal system (CCA) adopted in England is to be introduced in Wales. The CCA system has seen appeals fall to inconsequential levels compared to previous revaluations and compared to the position in Scotland and Wales. This is due to the wholly unnecessary labyrinth of bureaucracy around registration and the level of information required to launch a challenge, none of which is currently required in Wales or Scotland.”