How your Business Rates are worked out

Your annual business rates bill is calculated and collected by the Council

The rateable value of your premises is multiplied by the annual rate in the pound

The Council multiplies the rateable value of your property, which is set by the Valuation Office, part of HMRC, by a multiplier (the national non-domestic multiplier) which is set by central government. It is set for the whole of England and is effective from 1 April each year. The multiplier represents the number of pence in each pound of the rateable value that will be payable in business rates before any reliefs or discounts are applied. The calculation gives the amount of rates payable for the year.

The Government reviews the multipliers each year to reflect changes in inflation. By law, the multiplier cannot increase or decrease by more than the rate of inflation, except in the year of a revaluation. In that year it is set at a level which will keep the total amount raised in rates after the revaluation the same as before, plus inflation for that year. The most recent revaluation took effect from 1 April 2026. Future revaluations will be carried out every three years with the next one coming into force on 1 April 2029.

The rateable value of a property is an assessment of the annual rent the property would rent for it it were available to let on the open market at a fixed valuation date. (This is known as the Antecedent Valuation Date or AVD).

From 1 April 2023 rateable values were based on the valuation date of 1 April 2021.
From 1 April 2026 rateable values are based on the valuation date of 1 April 2024

Prior to 1 April 2026 there were two multipliers for each year; the standard national Non-Domestic Multiplier (which applies to properties with a rateable value of £51,000 and above and the Small Business Multiplier (which applies to properties with a rateable value less than £51,000).

From 1 April 2026 the Government has introduced three additional multipliers. Different multipliers will apply to properties which fall into Retail, Hospitality and Leisure Categories. A higher multiplier will apply to high value properties, whose rateable value exceeds £500,000. The multipliers are shown below:

Multiplier	Rateable Value Thresholds	Category
38.2p	Up to £50,999	RHL properties
43.0p	£51,000 to £499,999	RHL properties
43.2p	Up to £50,999	Non RHL properties
48.0p	£51,000 to £499,999	Non RHL properties
50.8p	500,000 and over	All properties

Transitional Relief supplement

A 1p supplement to the relevant tax rate for ratepayers who do not receive Transitional Relief or the Supporting Small Business scheme to partially fund Transitional Relief. This will apply for one year from 1 April 2026.

The multipliers from 01.04.2017 to 01.04.2026 are shown below

**Non-Domestic Rate Multipliers**
Year	Non-Domestic Multiplier	Small Business Multiplier
2025/26	55.5 pence	49.9 pence *
2024/25	54.6 pence	49.9 pence *
2023/24	51.2 pence	*49.9 pence (Revaluation)**
2022/23	51.2 pence	49.9 pence *
2021/22	51.2 pence	49.9 pence *
2020/21	51.2 pence	49.9 pence *
2019/20	50.4 pence	49.1 pence
2018/19	49.3 pence	48.0 pence
2017/18	47.9 pence	46.6 pence (Revaluation)