The Welsh Government is pursuing a range of reforms during the current legislative term which will introduce noticeable changes to Business Rates in Wales. To support its case, it has launched a consultation to seek views on proposals to provide rates’ improvement relief in Wales. On 5 April 2023, it announced that the UK Government’s Business Rating Bill would be used to bring about certain reforms at the earliest possible opportunity. These include a new improvement relief, which the Welsh Government “proposes to use to support businesses and other ratepayers to invest in making improvements to the business rates properties they occupy.” The Welsh Government states it recognises that many businesses see the NDR system as a disincentive to investing in property improvements, as any resulting increase in a property’s rateable value may lead to a higher bill. The consultation is seeking views on the Government’s proposal to provide improvement relief, to help address this potential barrier to growth and investment in the tax-base, from 1 April 2024. It applies to Wales only and the Improvement Relief will initially provide improvement relief up to and including 31 March 2029. More details can be found here: Consultation on improvement rates relief [HTML] | GOV.WALES including the consultation questions and how to respond. The deadline for submissions is: August 8, 2023.
Summer consultation launched by Welsh Government on business rate reforms
