Debunking the myths of business rates

We've dived into the local myth that business rates in the town centre are 'high' and that's one of the reasons for lack of footfall - check out our findings.

Business rates, or officially, non-domestic rates are a complicated system for local taxation which can be hard to understand. For residents, Council Tax is how we pay for local services, but those properties used as businesses or for non-domestic purposes also contribute to the system.

During the 2024/2025 financial year, the county council will collect £7.1m in business rates. However the local myth is that rates locally 'are too high' and that Powys should reduce them.

Our research has found that the majority of shops in the town centre, get some sort of discount or relief meaning that the vast majority pay nothing or less than £100 a month. However, some shops you'd expect to pay less actually pay more due to the value of their premises (read below to see how the rates are calculcated).

From the map below, you can see that the larger high street chains pay the most, which is a correct assumption in a progressive tax system.

Last year we built an interactive database of all non-domestic properties in the Newtown area. You can use this to view final bills and reliefs given to each individual property using the link below. We've gone a step further this time and displayed all these final bills on a interactive map for you to explore.

Businesses rated 'green' pay £0 or under £1,200 a year, those in yellow pay between £1,200 to £15,000 and those red pay above £15,000 a year.

Note: the map doesn't show every non-domestic premises due to difficulties in matching addresses to premises. For the full list, please check out the Business Rates Database. We accept no liabilities for any incorrect data, all data is based off the Powys County Council datasets, available on their website.

How are rates calculated?

Each non-domestic property has a 'rateable value', which is set by the Valuation Office Agency. This amount is based on the amount of rent which the premises may or does attract. This figure is then multiplied by the 'business rate multiplier' to give an amount payable.

In Wales, the business rate multiplier is set by the Welsh Government each year. The rates are then collected by Powys County Council who send it to Welsh Government to be pooled together. The Welsh Government then send money back.

In Powys, the county council gets more money than Powys businesses send to Welsh Government. In 2019/20, Powys County Council sent Welsh Government £31.5m but got back £43.7m.