Farmers who own or operate small scale wind turbines will be subject to some significant rises in business rates after April 1st, this year.
This only applies to England and Wales - Scotland has its own rules for business rates relief – but the increases are expected following changes to how the Valuation Office Agency calculate Rateable Values (RVs).
Farmers are being urged to check their RVs as soon as possible as many are likely to see their business rates for their wind turbine increase significantly as the VOA will be taking into account the feed-in tariff incentives that were not available at the previous revaluation back in 2010.
The proliferation of wind turbines over recent years means many farmers will be affected by the change, particularly those who went into renewable energy as a diversified source of income to supplement struggling farming revenues.
Farmers have until March 31 to check their rating online and, if necessary, to challenge that rating.
Wind of change coming for farmers using renewable energy turbines
