Business rates calculator
Put in the rateable value and this business rates calculator answers the business rates how much question directly: the bill, the multiplier it used and the relief taken off, on the 2026/27 figures that took effect at the 1 April 2026 revaluation. England only.
Updated 14 September 2026 · Tax year 2026/27
Your business rates bill #
| Rateable value | £14,000.00 |
| Multiplier used Small business, under £51,000.00 | 43.2p |
| Rates before relief | £6,048.00 |
| Small business rate relief at 33.3% | −£2,016.00 |
| Business rates for the year | £4,032.00 |
| Over 10 monthly instalments | £403.20 |
| Over 12, if you ask your council | £336.00 |
The 2026/27 business rates multipliers #
Every rateable value in England was reassessed at the 1 April 2026 revaluation. Because the totals were rebased, the multipliers fell at the same time. A multiplier that looks lower than the one you remember does not mean a smaller bill, because the rateable value it is applied to has usually moved too.
| Rateable value | Standard | Retail, hospitality and leisure |
|---|---|---|
| Under £51,000.00 | 43.2p | 38.2p |
| £51,000.00 to £499,999.00 | 48p | 43p |
| £500,000.00 and above | 50.8p | 50.8p |
The higher multiplier above £500,000.00 is what pays for the lower retail ones. Large distribution warehouses were the explicit target. Note that the RHL multipliers stop at £500,000.00, so a very large hotel or department store gets no benefit from them.
Small business rate relief #
Set the answer above to your only property and it doubles as a small business rate relief calculator. This is the relief worth checking carefully, because it is claimed rather than granted. If the business rates rateable value is £12,000.00 or less and it is your only property, you pay nothing at all.
- Up to £12,000.00: 100% relief, no bill
- £12,001.00 to £15,000.00: relief tapers in a straight line from 100% down to nothing. A rateable value of £13,500.00 gets 50%, £14,000.00 gets about 33%
- Under £51,000.00: you still get the lower small business multiplier even with no relief
More than one property does not automatically disqualify you. You keep relief on the main property if no other property has a rateable value above £2,899.00 and the combined rateable value stays under £20,000.00, or £28,000.00 in London.
When you take on a second property you keep relief on the first for 36 months if you took it on from 27 November 2025, up from 12 months before that date. That extension is recent and easy to miss when you are deciding whether to expand.
Every business rates relief and exemption #
| Relief | Who it is for | Worth |
|---|---|---|
| Small business rate relief | Rateable value under £15,000 | Up to 100% |
| Retail, hospitality and leisure | Shops, pubs, cafes, gyms, hotels | Lower multiplier, not a discount |
| Rural rate relief | The only shop, pub or post office in a qualifying rural settlement | Up to 100% |
| Charitable rate relief | Charities and community amateur sports clubs | 80%, with discretionary top-up |
| Empty property relief | Vacant premises | 3 months, or 6 for industrial |
| Improvement relief | Qualifying improvements to your own property | 12 months on the added value |
| Transitional relief | Large increases at revaluation | Caps the year-on-year rise |
| Supporting small business relief | Losing relief because of the 2026 revaluation | Caps the increase |
Some property is outside business rates altogether. The main business rates exemptions are:
- Agricultural land and buildings, including fish farms
- Buildings used for the training or welfare of disabled people
- Buildings registered for public religious worship, and church halls
- Most properties in enterprise zones and freeports, for a limited period
Business rates working from home #
Most people working from home owe nothing. A laptop on the kitchen table, or a desk in a spare room that is also a spare room, does not create a liability. The Valuation Office Agency starts to take an interest when one of these is true:
- A room is used only for the business and for nothing else
- You sell goods to customers who come to the property
- You employ other people who work there
- You have adapted the building, for example converting a garage into a workshop or salon
Where it does apply, only the part used for business is rated, and small business rate relief usually wipes out the bill anyway. The trade-off is that claiming a room as exclusively business can affect private residence relief when you sell. The allowable expenses guide covers the safer way to claim for working from home.
Business rates appeal: how to challenge the rateable value #
A business rates appeal is really a challenge to the rateable value, since the multiplier is fixed nationally and reliefs are rules-based. The process runs in three stages through the Valuation Office Agency.
| Stage | What happens |
|---|---|
| Check | Confirm or correct the facts held about the property: floor areas, use, what is included |
| Challenge | Argue the valuation is wrong, with evidence such as comparable rents. Must normally follow within four months of the check |
| Appeal | Take it to the independent Valuation Tribunal if the challenge is refused |
Keep paying the bill throughout. Non-payment during an appeal leads to recovery action regardless of how strong the case is, and a successful challenge is refunded. Be wary of agents who cold-call promising business rates refunds for an upfront fee; the check stage is free to do yourself.
Business rates outside England #
This calculator is for England. Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland each set their own multipliers and their own relief schemes, and the thresholds do not match. The principle is the same everywhere: rateable value times a multiplier, less relief.
Common questions #
What are business rates?
A tax on non-domestic property: shops, offices, pubs, warehouses, factories and holiday lets. The bill is the property's rateable value multiplied by a figure set by government, less any relief. Your council collects it.
How much are business rates?
For 2026/27 in England the small business multiplier is 43.2p in the pound for a rateable value under £51,000.00, and 48p above that. So a rateable value of £20,000.00 produces a bill of £8,640.00 before relief.
What is the business rates threshold?
There is no registration threshold the way there is for VAT. The figures that matter are relief thresholds: a rateable value of £12,000.00 or less pays nothing if it is your only property, relief tapers away by £15,000.00, and the small business multiplier applies below £51,000.00.
What is small business rate relief?
Full exemption for a sole property with a rateable value of £12,000.00 or less, tapering to nothing at £15,000.00. You have to claim it from your council; it is not applied automatically.
What is rateable value?
The Valuation Office Agency's estimate of the property's open market annual rent on a set valuation date. It is not what you pay in rent and not the property's sale value. Every rateable value in England was reassessed at the 1 April 2026 revaluation.
Do I pay business rates working from home?
Usually not. You start to owe business rates working from home when part of the property is used only for the business, when you sell goods to visiting customers, when you employ other people there, or when you have adapted the building for the business. A desk in a spare bedroom does not trigger it.
Can I appeal my business rates?
You challenge the rateable value, not the bill. The route is Check, Challenge, Appeal through the Valuation Office Agency: check the facts held about the property, challenge the valuation with evidence, then appeal to the Valuation Tribunal if the challenge fails. You must keep paying while it runs.
What are the business rates exemptions?
Agricultural land and buildings, premises used for the training or welfare of disabled people, and buildings registered for public religious worship. Empty property relief covers the first three months of a vacancy, or six months for industrial premises.
Did retail, hospitality and leisure relief end?
Yes. The 40% discount capped at £110,000.00 per business ended on 31 March 2026. It was replaced by permanently lower RHL multipliers set 5p below the standard ones, with no cash cap, for properties under £500,000.00.
How are business rates paid?
By your council, normally over 10 monthly instalments from April to January. You can ask to spread it over 12 instead, which lowers each payment.