A government policy that attempts to stop businesses from seeking a reduction to their business rates will be challenged at a tribunal tomorrow.
Business rates specialist Altus Group is bringing the test case at the Valuation Tribunal tomorrow. Specifically, Altus is arguing that the tribunal should ignore legislation seeking to restrict the circumstances in which a business can apply to the tribunal to have its rates reduced.
The Valuation Tribunal is an independent judicial body that provides dispute resolution for council tax and business rates. It hears and rules on disputes made by ratepayers and council taxpayers challenging the amount they are being asked to pay.
During the pandemic, around 170,000 businesses sought to have their business rates reduced, arguing that the restrictive measures brought in to combat the spread of Covid had made their commercial property less useful.
While the government initially agreed, in March 2021 Chancellor Rishi Sunak announced new measures. The government planned to introduce a £1.5bn business rates relief fund, but it also said it intended to legislate to prevent businesses challenging their rates with the argument that the pandemic represented a “material change of circumstances”.
It is this legislation that is being challenged in the Valuations Tribunal.
According to court papers, Altus is arguing that the legislation doesn’t effectively bar the tribunal from taking the pandemic into account. As well as legally ineffective, Altus is arguing that the policy is wrong in law.
The tribunal will hear 26 test cases tomorrow, taken from across the country and across business sectors.
The tribunal won’t give judgment tomorrow. Instead, it will give its decision in writing within one calendar month of the end of the hearing.
To send feedback, e-mail newsdesk@eg.co.uk or tweet @EGPropertyNews
