The person liable to pay the bill in most circumstances will be the occupier of the premises. In the case of holiday lets or empty business premises, it will be the owner or leaseholder of the property. Both the owner, (or their agent) and the occupier have a legal obligation to notify the Council if the liability for a property is incorrect.

Rateable Value (RV)

Most properties not subject to Council Tax will be liable to pay Business Rates. In the South Hams area this includes the firms and shops that we all normally associate as `businesses' and also dwellings and second homes that the owners let for short term/holiday letting, provided that they are available to be let for 140 days or more during the year.

In most cases these dwellings are given a `Rateable Value' (RV), by an independent Valuation Officer of the Valuation Office Agency - which is an executive agency of the Inland Revenue. All non-domestic property is revalued every 5 years. From 1st April 2000 the RV of a dwelling represents its annual open market rental value as at 1st April 1998.

The Valuation Officer may alter the value if he believes that the circumstances of the property have changed, or the ratepayer can appeal against the rateable value set against the property. If the ratepayer appeals but the Valuation Office does not agree, the matter will automatically be passed to the Valuation Tribunal for further independent review.

The effect of successful appeals against new rateable values for 1st April 2000 will be backdated to 1st April 2000 only if they were made by 30th September 2000. Appeals made in the six months after that will only be backdated to 1st October 2000. Appeals made in a subsequent financial year will only be backdated to the start of that year.

Information about the circumstances in which a change in rateable value may be proposed and how such a proposal may be made is available from the Valuation Office at:

District Valuer's Office
190 Armada Way
Plymouth
PL1 1EG
Tel: (01752) 614100

IMPORTANT: If you have appealed against your rateable value, payment is still due as per your latest Rates bill, and cannot be withheld pending the outcome. If you are successful and your bill is reduced, interest may be payable on your overpayment - we will calculate this and refund you the overpayment, along with any interest and a tax certificate detailing the refund.