As of September 2023, many councils are declaring bankruptcy. This means the councils are revisiting old business rate debts and chasing clients for that money. Are you one of those businesses or people this has happened to. But there are many reasons why a council may be charging you backdated business rates, so let us take a look at some of those reasons.

 

Historic business rate debt

 

One reason could be that the council have pulled up their old business rate accounts which were never paid. This is non-domestic rates back billing. These back billed debts can lay in wait for years, suddenly to be pulled out of the hat and sent to you in the form of a sudden business rate demand notice. It doesn’t take long then for the account to be handed over to enforcement agents (bailiffs).

Do you actually owe those backdated business rates. How can the council justify the time it has taken to chase you for those liabilities.

 

Can repayment terms be negotiated over a longer period of time than what they are currently allowing. Is there anyway to mitigate those business rate debts. These are all questions that come to mind when discussing business rate historic debts.

It is important to be able to gain the correct advice moving forward with backdated business rate debts. This is why we are providing a free business rates advice service for anyone facing this problem.

 

We are also business rates appeal specialists. For those seeking business rates surveyors please contact us for advice.