Non-domestic rates - money off your bill
Small business bonus relief
This relief can only be awarded to properties that are in active occupation. If your property is unoccupied, you must apply for empty property relief instead. We can't give this relief to payday lenders, advertising stations, car parks, car spaces or betting shops.
A separate application is needed for every property that you wish to apply for. You must declare any other properties in Scotland that you are, or were, liable for at the same time as the property you are now applying for.
Small Business Bonus Relief
The small business bonus scheme changed on 1 April 2023. You will qualify for small business bonus relief on your occupied properties if the combined rateable value of all your properties in Scotland you are liable for is £35,000 or less and where the individual property has a rateable value of £20,000 or less.
Where you are liable for a single property and the rateable value is:
- £12,000 or less - 100% relief is awarded.
- between £12,001 and £15,000 - relief is tapered from 100% to 25%
- between £15,001 and £20,000 - relief is tapered between 25% and 0%
Where you are liable for more than one property and the combined rateable value is:
- £12,000 or less - 100% relief is awarded to each property
- between £12,001 and £35,000 and the individual property rateable value is £15,000 or less - 25% relief is awarded on this property
- between £12,001 and £35,000 and the individual property rateable value is between £15,001 and £20,000 - relief is tapered between 25% and 0%
Small Business Bonus Relief Review
We are currently reviewing all small business bonus relief. If we have your email address, instructions will be sent by email, otherwise a letter will be sent to you. Please ensure you complete your review form(s) when asked, quoting your rates reference number from the email or letter.
Small Business Bonus Relief for storage containers
Storage containers are non-domestic properties irrespective of whether the container is used for business or personal storage. If you have received a rates bill for a storage container, then you are entitled to apply for small business bonus relief using the online form below.
Relief available prior to 2023/2024
You can still apply for relief prior to 1 April 2023 using the same application form. Prior to this date, you will qualify for small business bonus relief on your occupied properties if the combined rateable value of all your properties in Scotland you are liable for is £35,000 or less and where the individual property has a rateable value of £18,000 or less. The percentage of relief is as follows:
| Combined rateable value of all business properties in Scotland | 2017/2018 to 2022/2023 |
|---|---|
| Up to £15,000 | 100% relief |
| £15,001 - £18,000 | 25% relief |
| £18,001 - £35,000* | 25% relief |
*A ratepayer with multiple properties with a cumulative rateable value between £18,001 and £35,000 can be eligible for 25% relief for individual properties each with a rateable value up to £18,000.
When you apply we will need to know about any other properties in Scotland where you have been the ratepayer at the same time as the property you are now applying for relief for. If you are or were liable for more than 5 properties at the same time as this one you are making an application for, you will be required to upload a list of these properties when making your application. You must tell us the full address and postcode of each property along with the approximate dates of liability for each property. You can upload most types of documents including PDF, Excel, Word and image files. Please have these to hand before you start your application.
To apply for small business bonus relief or to review an existing small business bonus relief, please complete the online form below.
We aim to process your application within 10 working days. Due to current volumes of customer contact and correspondence, there may be a delay to this timescale.
We are working hard to reduce our response times and will process your application as soon as possible.
Submit evidence
If you have already made an application for small business bonus relief and you have been asked to provide evidence in support of your application, you can use our online form to provide this.