This week Chancellor Sunak published his Spring Statement with not a lot of change for business ratepayers. The main change was bringing forward the exemption for onsite power generation and storage from renewable sources to start on 1 April 2022 rather than 2023.
This change means that ratepayers investing in renewable energy solutions, such as solar panels, wind turbines and battery storage, will see their rateable value reduced to exclude any added value from these systems. In addition, Electric Vehicle Charging Points will also become exempt from business rates.
With the short period of time between the Chancellor’s Spring statement and the 1 April 2022, it is unlikely that business rates liabilities will be corrected in time and many ratepayers will have to wait until the VOA has identified and certified premises where there should be an exemption.
If you do have a renewable energy source on your premises, Aitchison Raffety can advise on what steps are required to make sure the exemption is applied.
For more information contact our Business Rates team on 01727 772222.