
By Aaron McLeod. Director
The Welsh Government has fallen in line with Scotland and announced yesterday it was to grant 100% relief for another 12 months for those eligible for the Retail, Hospitality and Leisure exemption during the current business rate year. The exemption goes up to a Rateable Value of £500,000 per property. Wales also confirmed that registered childcare providers will receive 100% relief until 31 March 2022.
Scotland announced its further 12-month 100% exemption a while ago and England’s three-month extension came out last week as part of the Chancellor’s Budget.
There has also been further guidance released on the Expanded Retail Discount 2021-22. The £105,000 cap is effectively for businesses which are eligible for retail discount but were legally allowed to be open on 05/01/2021 and the £2 million cap is for businesses which are eligible for retail discount but were not legally allowed to be open on 05/01/2021. You can find out more here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/966871/BRIL_2-_2021-2022_BR_Multipliers_and_Budget.pdf
In addition to this, there has been an announcement that the State Aid threshold for grants has been increased to £10.9m. Details of the latest grants are found here. There are three grant categories – the Small Amounts of Financial Assistance Allowance, the COVID-19 Business Grant Special Allowance and the COVID-19 Business Grant Allowance. By combining the three, there are potential allowances of up to £10,935,000.