Mandatory and Charitable Rate Relief

Charities and registered community amateur sports clubs are entitled to mandatory relief from rates.

This applies to any non-domestic property which is wholly or mainly used for charitable or non-profit making purposes.

Relief is given at 80% of the full rate bill or of the transitional bill where the transitional arrangements apply. Billing authorities have discretion to remit all or part of the remaining 20% of the bill on such property.

Authorities also have discretion to remit all or part of any rate bill in respect of property occupied by certain bodies not established or conducted for profit.

Mandatory Relief (Maximum 80%)

Occupiers of the following qualify for mandatory rate relief:

Non domestic premises occupied by a charity or the trustees of a charity where the premises are used wholly or mainly for charitable purposes
Non domestic premises occupied by an organisation, which although not a registered charity, has charitable objectives. A copy of the Articles of Association or the constitution of the organisation must be provided for inspection by the Council
In the cases of charity shops, use of the premises must be wholly or mainly for the sale of goods donated to the charity and the proceeds of the sale (after deductions for expenses) applied for the purposes of the charity
Registered Community Amateur Sports Clubs

Where a property receives Mandatory relief, a claim cannot be made for Small Business Rate Relief.

Discretionary Relief (Maximum 100%)

The Council has a discretionary power to grant relief from rates in respect of non-domestic premises occupied by one of the following:

Non profit making organisations whose main objectives are charitable, philanthropic, religious, or concerned with education, social welfare, science, literature or the fine arts.
Non profit making organisations occupying premises wholly or mainly for the purposes of recreation.
Organisations entitled to mandatory relief as set out above.

Each application for discretionary relief is considered on an individual basis.

The Council's Finance and General Purposes Committee will take into account the criteria set out below, which it would expect an organisation to comply with, either in whole or in part.

Criteria for Discretionary Relief

An organisation should have an open membership policy
Facilities should be provided for disadvantaged groups e.g. disabled, unemployed, older people,
Facilities should be available to non members e.g. use by schools or say by young people in the case of a cricket club
Facilities should be provided by self help or by grants from bodies other than the Council
Facilities provided should be complementary to those provided by the Council or relieve the Council of the need to provide such facilities
The facilities should, in the main, be for the benefit of persons resident in the City
Rate relief will not normally be granted if an organisation is capable of supporting itself financially without the need for assistance from the Council
Organisations which receive direct grant aid through a Council service committee will normally be granted rate relief but the amount of grant aid will be correspondingly reduced.

Additional criteria for Discretionary Relief - Sports Clubs

More than 50% of the membership should be active playing members.
Generally, no relief will be allowed where an admission fee is charged to the public, or where a club is a professional or semi-professional organisation.
Applications from organisations involved in minority sports will be given sympathetic consideration.
In the cases of clubs with bar facilities, relief will generally not exceed 50% unless there are exceptional circumstances.
Sympathetic consideration will be given to organisations affiliated to local or national organisations and where participation in local/national events publicises and promotes the town of Wolverhampton.

Unoccupied Properties

An empty property that is held by a charity or community amateur sports club and appears likely to be next used for charitable purposes or the purposes of the club, will be exempt from unoccupied rates.

Claiming Rate Relief

An application form must be completed. A form may be completed via the online forms for charities or sports clubs or requested from the Local Taxes office.
The Articles of Association, Constitution or rules of the organisation should be sent to the Business Rates Office
You should also send copies of the last two years' annual reports and audited accounts. If audited accounts are not available, financial statements prepared by an appropriate officer of the organisation should be submitted to the Business Rates Office
Applications for rate relief are considered by the Council's Finance and General Purposes Committee which generally meets once every six weeks
Applicants will be advised of the outcome of their applications at the earliest opportunity.

Duration of Rate Relief

Where an application is determined by the Council prior to 30th September relief will be allowed for both the current and previous financial years where appropriate
An application will only be determined for the previous financial year, if the application and full supporting information is received in the Council's Finance Department not later than 31st August
In the cases of applications determined after 30^th September, rate relief will only be allowed from 1^st April in the current financial year or a later date where appropriate
An application for rate relief should be made immediately even if the Valuation Office Agency has not assessed a rateable value for the premises

If you feel your organisation may be entitled to relief please make an application immediately and contact Local Taxes.

Alternatively use the online forms for charitable and discretional rate relief (including registered Community Amateur Sports Clubs) or relief for other sports clubs.

Please ensure you submit the supporting evidence as described above.

Below are leaflets the Local Taxes Division has produced on the relief for charitable and similar organisations.

This authority is under a duty to protect public funds and, to this end may use the information held or provided by you for the prevention and detection of fraud. It may also share this information with other bodies for these purposes and also for the administration and collection of taxes and charges and for performing other statutory enforcement duties.