Introduction and liability for Business Rates
Introduction
Business Rates (also known as National Non-Domestic Rates)
are levied and collected by local authorities on behalf of
Central Government.
The Business Rates collected by Harlow Council and all the
other local councils are paid into a central government
pool, and the money is redistributed to
local councils according to the number of people who live
in each council's area.
Harlow Council has no control over the amount of rates
charged.
To see how Business Rates is charged please follow this link to the Business Rates
charges page.
Liability
Business Rates will be payable by the occupier, but if the
property is unoccupied, then the owner or leaseholder
of the property will be liable to pay the Business Rates
due.
If you pay your Business Rates directly to the owner (or
leaseholder) and the owner does not pass on your payments to Harlow
Council, you are still liable to Harlow Council for
the Rates, and payment can be sought from you.
Any private agreement between you and the owner or leaseholder
is not binding in rating law. This means you might need to go to
the County Court to reclaim the Business Rates from the owner.