BUSINESS rates in Northern Ireland are to be re-evaluated for the second time in just over a year.
Some 74,750 non-domestic properties will have their net annual value (NAV) reassessed on October 1 2021 with new bills issued from April 2023, bringing Northern Ireland into line with revaluations in England, Scotland and Wales.
NAV is used together with the rates struck by councils and Stormont to calculate how much businesses pay.
Finance Minister Conor Murphy said the latest revaluation would maintain fairness and reflect the economic impact of the pandemic.
But some business groups have responded with trepidation.
Last year’s process, which was based on 2018 values, was just the second time business rates had been re-evaluated in the north since 2003.
While the Department of Finance said the process doesn’t generate any additional revenue for the public purse, some businesses experienced a significant hike in their rates bill last time around.
Many bars in Belfast city centre saw their NAV double following ‘Reval2020’, with at least one pub reporting a five-fold increase.
Licensed venues are assessed differently to other premises, with turnover factored into the equation. That could mean lower bills for many businesses hit by the restrictions on hospitality.
Retail NI’s chief executive, Glyn Roberts, said many independent retailers saw their rates bills rise 20-40 per cent following Reval2020, while some major out of town supermarkets had their NAV cut.
“There is no doubt of the positive contribution, Minister Murphy and his department has made in delivering support grants and a rates holiday to many of our members during this pandemic,” he said.
“However, given their negative experience of the last rates revaluation, many independent retailers and small business owners will no doubt approach the 2023 reval with trepidation.”
Conor Murphy said he made a commitment to more frequent revaluations last year.
"The Covid-19 pandemic has had a dramatic impact on the economy resulting in changes between business sectors and this will feed through to changes to the rental values of many properties,” he said.
"Reval2023 will maintain fairness and ensure businesses are paying rates which take account of the impact of the pandemic."
The minister added: “Since April 2020, I have provided over £500 million of additional business rates support, with many businesses paying no rates at all over two years.
“As we look ahead to economic recovery and given the large scale of a revaluation it is important this work gets under way now."
