You have the opportunity to get a business rates reduction by appealing your rates assessment when you take a legal interest in a property. However, in Scotland this must be exercised within 6 months of taking the legal interest.
If an appeal is not lodged within the required timescales, there may be certain circumstances where you can still lodge a business rates appeal. For example, if there has been a change in value due to an extension being added or if it canbe proven that there is an error.
Whilst every Local Authority will say the appeal process for setting non domestic business rates is fair, the fact of the matter that is not always the case, and in our experience there is a lack of consistency in approach to handling business rates appeals. As such, it is important to seek the correct professional advice from a firm of Chartered Surveyors at the very outset, like ourselves who understand the business rates system and Rating valuation.
The appeals themselves can be a very complex issue, based around valuation theory and case law. At Business Rates Advice, we are a firm of Chartered Surveyors but also have the required experience, ranging from negotiating the relatively most simple appeals to the highly technical cases which we have prepared for the Lands Valuation Appeal Court.