The Bill will deliver the ambition set out in the Barclay Review to enhance and reform the business rates system in Scotland to better support business growth and long-term investment and reflect changing marketplaces. Having already introduced the Business Growth Accelerator and Day Nurseries relief recommended by the Review, the Bill will include other measures to support growth including the move to a three-year valuation cycle.
The Bill will introduce measures aimed at improving the administration of the system including to reduce the number of appeals and improve the quality of information available to stakeholders. It will also deliver measures to increase fairness and ensure a level playing field by reforming a number of reliefs and tackling known avoidance measures.
Who will this affect?
Particularly affected by this will be the Independent Schools sector as the Scottish Government has accepted the recommendation of the Barclay Review that rates relief for the majority of such schools ceases. While the Scottish Government is not taking forward the recommendation to remove rates relief from Arm’s Length Extend Organisations set up as charities, the proposals to exclude Independent Schools from business rates relief will come into effect from 1 September 2020.
Update note: The new rules were originally planned to be implemented from 1 September 2020, however, to help schools cope with the impact of Coronavirus, the Scottish Government initially delayed implementation until April 2021. As the pandemic impact continued, implementation was again delayed further until April 2022.
Get in touch
If you have any questions regarding the Bill, please contact mail@ct.me.
