November 03, 2022 - 641 views
A local Senedd member has claimed that Welsh Government "effectively fined businesses for staying within the law during Covid-19.”
Janet Finch-Saunders, Member of the Welsh Parliament for Aberconwy, has written to Rebecca Evans MS, Minister for Finance and Trefnydd, Welsh Government, calling on her to take decisive action by making a policy decision to allow the Valuation Office Agency (VOA) flexibility to grant appeals by businesses who can prove that they were unable to meet the criteria for business rates in 2020/21 because of Covid-19 restrictions.
At present, holiday lets need to be available for let 140 days and actually occupied for 70 days to qualify for business rates. In many instances, this results in the business qualifying for Small Business Rate Relief. However, should the threshold not be met, holiday lets are being asked to pay Council Tax.
Commenting on the fact that genuine businesses are being charged council tax instead of business rates, Mrs. Finch-Saunders said: “During 2020/21 communities across Wales were impacted by local and national lockdowns. In fact, the Professional Association of Self Caterers UK (PASC UK) has noted that it was impossible to legally advertise self-catering accommodation for let for 140 days, meaning that businesses are now being reclassified by the VOA and hit with Council Tax demands.
“What we have is Welsh Government effectively fining businesses for staying within the law during Covid-19.
“It has been made clear to me that at least one local authority in Wales is refusing to use its discretion by advising that they have to act on the VOA’s decision to bring the property into Council Tax for the 2020/21 financial year.
"When you have the VOA also stating that they have no discretion in applying the criteria due to Welsh Government policy, it is completely clear that the order to allow discretion needs to come from the Minister for Finance”.
