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Apply for the Business Rates Covid-19 Additional Relief Fund

The Business Rates Covid-19 Additional Relief Fund supports businesses who were:

  • affected by the pandemic, and
  • were ineligible for previous Covid Business Support Grants support linked to business rates

Relief is provided as a reduction to the amount of Business Rates you owed in 2021/22.

You must be the business rates payer to apply for this scheme.

Eligibility

Your business must:

  1. be liable for business rates.
  2. have been adversely affected by the pandemic and unable to adequately adapt to the impact.
  3. be in one of the following sectors:
  • Warehouses 
  • Workshops
  • Factory and Premises
  • Office and Premises
  • Businesses involved in the supply chain to Retail/Hospitality  
  • Commercial car parks
  • Advertising rights

How much you could get

The Council has been allocated £12,755,999 by the government for this fund. Once we have assessed all applications we’ll divide the amount between successful businesses. The amount of relief awarded to any business will not be more than the total rates liability for 2021/22.

Relief up to 100% will be granted in respect of your business rates liability in respect of 2021/22.

If you have already paid your business rates in respect of 2021/22

We’ll apply any credit from the relief award to your bill for 2022/23 or you can request a refund of the credit if you wish.

Exclusions - who can’t apply for additional relief

  • Businesses who are or would have been eligible for any of these schemes:

    • Extended Retail Discount (covering Retail, Hospitality and Leisure)
    • Nursery Discount 
    • Airport and Ground Operations Support Scheme
  • Premises and land used for personal use or storage
  • Car parking spaces that are not run as a commercial business
  • Utilities and communications infrastructure
  • Central and local government and NHS infrastructure
  • Universities
  • Primary and Secondary Schools
  • GP Surgeries and Health Centres
  • Financial Services (Banks Building Societies Financial Advisers)
  • Retail
  • Restaurants, cafes, drinking establishments
  • Cinemas and live music venues
  • Hotels, guest and boarding premises and self-catering accommodation
Businesses with more than 5 business rates liabilities

Email us at businessratescarf@sheffield.gov.uk. We will contact you to let you know how to apply for all your eligible liabilities.

Subsidy Allowance

Providing discretionary relief to ratepayers is likely to amount to a subsidy. Any relief provided by the Council under the CARF scheme will need to comply with the UK’s domestic and international subsidy control obligations.

If your application is successful, we will write to you to advise you of the amount relief you will be granted, and you must ensure that you are not in breach of any of the Subsidy Control schemes:

  1. Small Amounts of Financial Assistance Allowance, which enables subsidy to be paid up to 325,000 SDR eg £343,000 in a three-year period.
  2. Covid-19 Additional Relief Fund Allowance, which enable subsidy (in addition to the £343,000 above) of £1,900,000 to be awarded, relating to covid-19 related losses. The guidance does not suggest that applicants need to provide evidence to prove covid-19 losses. 1 and 2 maybe combined, enabling subsidy up to £2,243,000.
  3. Covid-19 Additional Relief Fund Further Allowance may enable a business to receive up to a further £10 million subsidy. Under this scheme the business may be entitled to the subsidy where it had uncovered fixed costs during the period of pandemic (commencing 1 January 2020) and it can show a decline in turnover during this period of at least 30% compared to the same period in 2019.

How to apply

This scheme closed on 31 July 2022.

Contact Business Rates

P.O Box 1310
Sheffield
S1 1UY
Ask us a question
0114 273 4318

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