Bonus round

Starting from the premise that flattery will get you almost anywhere, I should point out that small business people regularly cite their solicitor as one of their most trusted and respected sources of information.

This affinity may be down to the fact that many solicitors in private practice are themselves small business owners. And, as small businesses, the current market conditions make it more important than ever for you to take advantage of all sources of available support.

Take your business rates. If the rateable value of your business premises is under £15,000, then you should already be taking advantage of the small business bonus, introduced in April.

Essentially an extension of the old small business rate relief scheme, the new bonus cuts rates for businesses whose premises have a combined rateable value which falls within certain bands. This year, properties assessed at under £8,000 enjoy 80% relief; those between £8,001 and £10,000 see their rates cut by 40%; and the bills for those between £10,001 and £15,000 are down 20%.

And next April, when the scheme comes into full effect, the rates reduction for the bands above will increase to 100%, 50% and 25% respectively.

Working out who qualifies

It is worth underlining, however, that, unlike the previous system, the key figure here is the combined rateable value of all your business premises in Scotland. Under the old scheme, all properties with a rateable value under £11,500 received rates relief, regardless of the combined value. But now, a firm with two offices assessed at £8,000 each would not qualify, whereas the firm with a single office assessed at £14,000 would.

It should also be noted that the amount of relief available depends, first, on whether your property is eligible for one of the existing rates relief schemes and, secondly, on the level of other public sector assistance received by the business.

Put simply, if you are already in receipt of one of the other non-discretionary rates reliefs – empty property relief or rural rate relief, for example – then that relief will be deducted from the notional amount of small business bonus available to you. That said, getting relief under small business bonus does not affect your eligibility for other discretionary rates relief, such as the discretionary element of rural relief.

As regards the latter criterion, if your business has received more than the de minimis limit for state aid (200,000 euro) in other public sector assistance, you should check with your local authority to confirm you still qualify.

Remember your clients

If you think you may qualify, but haven’t yet applied, now is the time to speak to your council or councils. If you apply now, there is nothing in the rules which says your claim cannot be backdated to the commencement of the scheme this April. (In practice, though, local authorities decide whether or not they will backdate any claim.)

If, on the other hand, you are not eligible, don’t banish the scheme from your mind entirely.

The small business bonus has made a real difference to many of our members over what has been a tough summer and uncertain autumn. So, when advising your small business clients, make sure they’ve checked whether they can claim and, if they haven’t, give them the details they need.

We do, after all, listen to what you have to say.

For more information, see: www.scotland.gov.uk/Resource/Doc/ 212130/0056430.pdf