Council have just been round - Stable tax

[Keith_Beef]

Check others local to you.

www.tax.service.gov.uk/view-my-valuation/search

Put in advanced search choose your billing authority then put in special code 236 it should bring up equestrian facilities close to you.

Wow! That could be a really useful tool for finding livery stables.

I had a quick look in category 236 in a post code area close to where I grew up. It found me a business that I knew of (a girl I used to be very friendly with kept her horse there), and listed
an Indoor Arena, an Outdoor Arena, an Outdoor Horse Walker, several Stores and several Dutch Barns.

 

[Tiddlypom]

I'm glad that this thread exists, as I remembered it when it was our turn on Friday for the arrival in the post of a hefty rates bill for our purely private yard, stables, shelters and arena.

Nearly £7k due within 14 days for rates, backdated to 2017 .



There was no accompanying advice on how to appeal or discuss the bill, just the demand for nearly £7k. The council helpline had already knocked off for the weekend, so we had to hang on til today to query it.

All sorted, no monies owed. The council is required by government to send out these demands, but the very helpful council bod readily agreed that we have small business exemption. Even though we are not a business, this is a private home. All legit. Council bod agrees that it is a nonsense, but the inflexible wording of the demand is imposed on them by government.

https://www.gov.uk/apply-for-business-rate-relief/small-business-rate-relief

Oh, and btw he also told us how they assess whether the stables are within the curtilage of a property. If any wall or part of the stable structure touches the garden boundary, it is within the curtilage. If the stables are close to the boundary but don't touch it, it isn't.

 

[Xmasha]

I'm glad that this thread exists, as I remembered it when it was our turn on Friday for the arrival in the post of a hefty rates bill for our purely private yard, stables, shelters and arena.

Nearly £7k due within 14 days for rates, backdated to 2017 .

View attachment 81283

There was no accompanying advice on how to appeal or discuss the bill, just the demand for nearly £7k. The council helpline had already knocked off for the weekend, so we had to hang on til today to query it.

All sorted, no monies owed. The council is required by government to send out these demands, but the very helpful council bod readily agreed that we have small business exemption. Even though we are not a business, this is a private home. All legit. Council bod agrees that it is a nonsense, but the inflexible wording of the demand is imposed on them by government.

https://www.gov.uk/apply-for-business-rate-relief/small-business-rate-relief

Oh, and btw he also told us how they assess whether the stables are within the curtilage of a property. If any wall or part of the stable structure touches the garden boundary, it is within the curtilage. If the stables are close to the boundary but don't touch it, it isn't.

Thats dreadful, could you imagine someone else getting that and panicking ? It even gives instalments .

 

[Tiddlypom]

It's deliberately appalling wording. Helpful worker said that HMG are desperate for cash, and are effectively putting the frighteners on people to just cough up.

 

[meleeka]

This makes me very cross. It feels like trying to get money by deception. How many people who wouldn’t have read this thread have just paid up I wonder?

 

[Tiddlypom]

Written confirmation from the council that, instead of the £6939.75 that was being demanded for non domestic rates for the stables less than a month ago, we owe precisely £0.00. As we knew, and they knew, but the government had still had a good go at intimidating us into paying .