Charitable Relief

Mandatory Charitable Relief

Section 43(5 and (6) of the Local Government Finance Act 1988 provides that ,where the ratepayer is a charity or trustees for a charity and the property is used wholly or mainly for charitable purposes, then the ratepayer will be entitled to 80% relief from their business rates bill and therefore their liability will be 20% of the full charge.

Section 67(10), Local Government Finance Act 1988 defines a charity as an institution or other organisation established for charitable purposes only, or any persons administering a trust established for charitable purposes only

Confirmation of charitable status may not always be easy to determine therefore four general principles have been established and they are:

That it should be a trust for the relief of poverty; or,
A trust for the advancement of religion; or,
A trust for the advancement of education; or,
A trust for other purposes that is beneficial to the community

Reference is also made to case law.

Charity Shops

Section 64( 10), Local Government Finance Act 1988 provides that Charity Shops are entitled to Mandatory Relief if they use the premises:

Wholly or mainly for the sale of donated goods to the charity;
and,
The net proceeds of the sales from the goods are applied to the purpose of that charity

Legislation does not define "wholly or mainly" and therefore the basis of more than half is used.

There is no requirement for an application for Mandatory Relief to be made in writing.

The Non Domestic Rating Pool funds 100% of the relief granted.

Community Amateur Sports Clubs

Community Amateur Sports Clubs (or CASC's as they are more commonly known) are also entitled to 80% relief from their business rates bill.  This is provided the CASC is registered with the Inland Revenue.

Discretionary Relief

Shrewsbury & Atcham Borough Council under Section 47(a) of the Local Government Finance Act 1988 has the discretion to remit all or part of the remaining 20% if:
The ratepayer is a charity or trustees for a charity and the property is wholly or mainly used for charitable purposes.

Section 47(a) of the Local Government Finance Act 1988 provides that discretionary rate relief may be allowed if:

All or part of the hereditament is occupied for the purposes of one or more institutions or other organisations which are not established or conducted for profit and whose main objects are charitable or are otherwise philanthropic or religious or concerned with education, social welfare, science, literature or the fine arts.

Shrewsbury & Atcham Borough Council has consistently only granted the additional 20% discretionary relief to those local or national charities which provide benefit to the local community.

For further information on any of the above or to obtain an application form, please contact the Council's Business Rates Section on 01743 281496 or email them at revenues@shrewsbury.gov.uk